connected at the sides

The past few days have been pretty solid. I've just been really joyful lately, thank you God for giving us times of joy.

I can probably conclude that it has something to do with the Christmas season. The good mood is contagious this month and everyone seems to be enjoying life. Christmas time always brings community in focus and I think we find ourselves extremely thankful for the friends and family that we have. I love being around people and I love to spend special occasions with people I love dearly.

Holidays always mean that I get to have my whole family under one roof again. I absolutely love being together with the entire crew: Dad, Mom, Paul, Michaela, Brett, and Katie. They are wonderful and I very much wish we had more times spent together than just once every few months. I don't know if I really appreciated it as much as a younger kid, but in recent years as I've kind of risen to their level (finally, haha) we all share similar interests and it's just great to share in community with them. I think God really blesses this time of year with a heigthened awareness of our surroundings and I hope we do not forget to stop and praise Him for all the things He's chosen to give us and even the things He's chosen not to just yet.

And with that... a few things I'm thankful for:
_Chronicles of Narnia (all of them!)
_My Family
_Worshipping with the students at Ignite
_My wonderful Friends
_God's push for fellowship

This week has been great.
I had a great birthday (probably the best birthday surprise ever.)
I had a great time seeing Chronicles.. 2 times in 1 day.
I had a great time bonding with multiple groups of people I hold dear.
I cannot wait until Paul and Michaela join the rest of us in Saginaw for Christmas.

Stop right now..
Thank God for something in your life. (I'm serious, do it.)

I thank God for each of you.

love.