True Friends

Thank you for my friends. I love them everyday. I've heard people say, friends will come and go from our lives, but can I keep the really good ones? The ones that make me feel loved? The ones that are there for me when I need them. The ones that let me help when they need me.
Truly these friends are blessings. If I lose but one my heart will cry. New ones are fragile. I must cradle and nurture the growing fondness. The lasting ties are solid as the oak tree. Let me not forget them in my busy life. May I be in their thoughts as well. I pray time can be taken to talk, share and learn.
War has taken one. I pray for Jeff and his family. You know them just as you know me. Give her strength for the coming year ahead.
My friends have become closer than family. Lord, I need them- you know I do. I wish that some of them knew you.
Make me a true friend. The kind that you would want. Even at my best, not nearly good enough, I hurt the ones I love, forgive me. Make me new, and once again...true.

Sadness Confirmed

Well, that's what I get for missing Church a few weeks in a row.

Why did it have to be another teenager? The one that helped me with kids at VBS this summer. The one that made the girls giggle because his hair changed color about as often as the sun went down.
I've only lived here 15 months and that's 4 dead teens that I know about.
How can I protect my own kids when they become able to drive...or riding with friends? Pray, pray, pray. Like I'm doing now? Trust. Like I'm doing now? Have Faith? Like I'm not doing now...
I know that your way is the best way. You've told ME that. I want my kids to live longer than me. That is what I am asking for, God. Like a child I have asked for many things. You have said 'yes' to some and 'no' to others. You have given me things I didn't ask for, but needed. Who am I to know what I need?
Please Lord give me wisdom for each encounter. I ask knowing you will give me that.
"But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind." James 1:6

I walk into the deli and see the owners who just lost their son, and I want to tell them it will be okay, but I know it isn't. The pain is wrenching, ripping and bleeding. I can't listen to the song "my immortal" because I think that is how I would feel if I lost a child. Who knows if that was the intent of the songwriter- but it speaks to me that way.

You have let me feel:
The pure contentment of a baby sleeping on my chest,
The freshness of your breath on my face,
The thrill of falling in love,
The meaning of friendship
and...
The realization that I am special.

The gifts you have made for me are endless.
If pain is a gift, I take it as well.

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that testing your faith develops perseverance." James 1:2-3

Trials come for all.
Resistance builds endurance.
Joy and Pain are necessary opposites.
Lord, give me strength. Give me wisdom.
Give it to the parents of the teenagers. please.