I Have Truly Been Blessed!

My sister Cher and I have grown a lot closer in these last couple of years. I love spending time with her. On Christmas day, Cher and I went outside on top of our suburban and just sat there singing songs while star gazing. Don't worry we had blankets on, yet it really wasn't that cold. I saw my first shooting star that night, in fact I actually saw 3. We enjoy doing many numerous things together. She is a really great person. Her love for others and her passion to serve is amazing, but her relationship with the Lord is even more amazing. God is definitely number one in her life. I have truly been blessed to have her in my life.I love you!! 






Even though I only knew the Burggraffs for 3 short years, they sure made a huge impact on my life. Pastor Burggraff came, about 4 years ago, to become our new Pastor. I have learned so much from him. He was an amazing preacher and an amazing Bible teacher. I don't think I could ever get tired of hearing him preach. Mrs. Burggraff was my volleyball coach for 2 amazing years. The first year I was really scared of her because she was a tough volleyball coach, but then I grew to love her.  But she wasn't just worried about teaching us the different skills in volleyball, but more importantly she was worried about our relationship with the Lord. She wanted our relationship with the Lord to be the most important thing in our life. She wanted us to focus on glorifying him. Whether we won or whether we lost we would praise Him. I will never forget those 2 years of volleyball. She also helped me with my first solo. I was so nervous, but I knew I could do it, besides the reason we sing should be to bring glory to God. I have learned so much from her. I look up to her greatly. Her passion to serve God is just amazing. She has helped me grow so much in my relationship with the Lord. I can talk to her about anything. She is just one phone call away. Even though this family has moved over 1,000 miles away, they are still very near and dear to my heart. I look forward to and love getting texts from Anna, she is such a sweetheart. And I absolutely love getting phone calls from them. I love that family so much!!!






I am so very thankful for the Dows. There are so many wonderful memories that I have with the Dows. Like Wheel of Fortune during Health Class! That was so much fun! When I first met Mr. Dow I thought he was the coolest person just because he hit Kari in the face with a dodge ball.  The next year he became our teacher. The Dows had it very rough the first year of teaching and I am so thankful that they stayed. The next year was a year that changed my life. That year our whole high school and junior high went on a camping trip. This camping trip was a time for us to get away from school and grow both in our relationship with each other and in our relationship with God. That was a life changing year for our whole secondary. After that, you could see a difference in our attitudes. It was amazing. Mrs. Dow was also my Sunday School teacher. We did a couple Bible studies and everything. I learned so much from her. It is really amazing how God can bring so many amazing people into your life to help you and then in God's timing He will take them away because there work is done in that place. The Dows are definitely another family that I will never forget.

 Kari is also one of those great friends of mine. I have known Kari since I was 4 years old when my mom first started doing Day Care for her. At first her and I were friends yet enemies at the same time. She would always break my things or be mean to me. For instance imagine me, Kari, and a toilet, not the best thing ever. Then again, even though she was mean to me, I was also mean to her. I always tattle tailed on her. As I got older I started feeling worse about that because I would see her get her mouth washed out with soap by her mom. In fact, once she knew she was going to get in trouble so she just washed her own mouth out with soap. I felt terrible, but at least her mom felt bad because she did it on her own. Well even though we were not the nicest to each other when we were young, Kari is definitely one of my closest friends now. I love her so much!!

 I love my family so much! They are the ones who have been there for me all of my life. My Dad is someone I look up to very much. I absolutely loved going on bike rides with my dad when I was a little girl. And I still love going fishing with him out on his boat. Once we were fishing at the Griffins cabin and I dropped his favorite fishing pole into the water. I don't know how, but I caught part of the line. Well my dad got his fishing pole back after like 10 minutes of pulling the line out of the water. That is something I will never forget.

Then there is mom. When I was little my mom would try to give us spankings, but I don't even know if you could consider it a love pat because it was so light. She was always afraid she was going to hurt us. My mom had it ruff because she got stuck with Jenessa and I. Supposedly when I was like 2 Jenessa and I ran out onto the road. One of us went one way the other went the other way. I don't know how she survived, but I am glad she did. The other day one of my teammates in soccer said, "I wish my parents came to my soccer games." Well my mom has always been at like every sport event whether it was soccer, volleyball, or basketball so I felt really terrible for them. Well they actually said this when my mom was in the hospital so she was not able to be there. My mom was so sad that she had to skip my first soccer game and my second one. In fact, she cried every time. It shows how much she cares.

Then there is Jenessa. Oh my! Jenessa is my twin and will always be one of my closest friends. When i was 4 years old I fell off the side of the bridge and cracked my head open in the dam. When I got up I still had my bag of cookies in my hand, but I had lost one of Jenessa's shoes. She did not care that I almost died (well actually she did), but she was really upset for me loosing her shoe. She claims that she has never forgiven me for that, but I think she really has. I will never forget that. When we were little we were always partners in crime. It was either that or we would be fighting each other. Even though we used to fight all the time, we really do love each other. She is such a great sister and I love her so much.

I would write about how i have been blessed to have Jessica and James in my life, but I already have in my posts about them.






What is the reason for you to go to church? We go to church so we can fellowship with other believers and grow together as one in Christ. Christ should be our main focus while we are at church. Church is a place where we can learn more about God and share how God has worked in our lives. We pray for each other and we have a relationship with each other. We build each other up when we are sad. We help out each other. For instance, when my mom was in the hospital people brought us meals. That was such a wonderful blessing.  The Bible says in Mark 16:15 "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." We have a chance to witness to people and to disciple others through our Awana program and through our opportunities to work at camp and go on missions trip. I love my church. Ever time I go to church I am encouraged by the wonderful people there. I don't know where I would be at if I would not have trusted Christ as my personal Savior and if I wouldn't have such a wonderful Church to help me grow in my relationship with Christ. I have truly been blessed to have such a wonderful Church.