One lesson God keeps telling me is to be thankful. Sometimes in all of the darkness that surrounds me, it is hard to be thankful for anything. But when tragedy strikes, I start to remember that I have so much to be thankful for.

There was a girl in my English class named Brittney Newsome. I wasn’t really friends with her and I never got the chance to speak to her, but she was definitely a person I wanted to talk to. I would pass her in the hallways and I would go to say hi but then got nervous and bailed. That’s something I definitely regret. I’m pretty sure my sisters were friends with her so she probably knew of me, like I knew of her. I could tell she had a confidence that people could get jealous of by the way she talked. That is another reason why I just wanted to talk to her. A little over a week ago was the beginning of spring break. Everyone left Friday or Saturday to go home or go on vacation with friends. Brittney left to go home to her family. Btw I got all of this information from the UNK News. Saturday, Brittney, her friend, brother, and mother all died in a fire. I’ve had friends who have died, but this was different and it shook me. I found this out on a Tuesday and it made me very emotional. Like I said, I wasn’t close friends with her, she was just in my class, but somehow it effected me a lot.

Any tragedy, but this one in particular, helps me remember why I am here and what I am thankful for. Tragedies aren’t always the main source of how I should be thankful because to be honest, I should be thankful everyday for every situation that I am given, but I’m not all the time. I am thankful for the bad situations I am given because they help me learn and become a better person, but the things I don’t recognize as being thankful for are the stuff like my bed, a phone, a car, my freaking two feet because not everyone can walk. Before writing this I chose to take a couple of days to think of things that I am thankful for and write them down. Here are some:

• my parents
• pets
• learning from my mistakes
• opportunity
• sunsets
• fresh air (btw we have the freshest air, we are really lucky)
• books
• sunshine (I mean the sun, not my friend Zach but I am thankful for him too)
• clean water
• love
• friendships

Just a couple of minutes ago I felt the urge to let my friends know that I care about them. I told them that I am so very happy that they exist, and that’s the honest truth. I probably wouldn’t be typing this if I have never met them. I cherish my friends so much because they all teach me lessons that I wouldn’t be able to teach myself. They let me know if I am about to mess up and make a mistake, but they also cheer me on when I do something good. That is a reason why friends are very important in our lives and a reason to be thankful. We need to start cherishing our friendships more and loving each other more because life is too gloomy not to. Everything in this world is temporary, but love outlives us all. If you really love something, love it completely. Cherish it and show it. One thing I have learned is that life is short and very very fragile. Never take anything for granted. I am very thankful that I get the opportunity to write on this blog and speak to whoever reads this.

Thank you God for this amazing life you have given me. Sometimes it feels like you’ve gave me too much and gave me things I probably don’t deserve. But since you have given me more than I need, I am now able to go share the gifts that you gave with others.

TODAYS REMINDER: the thing about God is He didn’t choose some perfect future version of you. He chose you in your mess. He chooses you. The right now, imperfect you. Don’t forget that.

Love,

Emily

Song I’ve been jamming to recently: Be Myself Again – Eric Benét