GTD ( Gratitude of the Day)

So Sunday I was sitting in Sunday school and thinking about High School. BIG surprise huh? Anyhow...I was thinking about my friends and what kind of an impact they had on me??? Well, to say the least , I had a rough time for a few years while I was an adolescent...parents divorced while I was 13 and dad dies of brain cancer when I was 16..pretty messed up for a while there! Did some really crazy things, some I am not proud of..heh heh. To the point...I had some really great friends, a group of people that accepted me for who I was! They never expected me to be anyone else! They loved me for me! While I did not dress like most of them... and I did not , perhaps, fit the mold...maybe /maybe not? They just took me in and loved me, Danelle:) My friends helped me get through all those tough times! I feel like even back in High School God was watching over me to see that I was taken care of. Sure, some bad things happened but none of us are ever immune to those bad things, it is what you do with those experiences and how your faith grows that really matters! It is those very things that lead me to the gospel. Feeling lonely, but not too lonely...feeling lost but not forgotten. Feeling hurt but not despairing...feeling angry..feeling confused...those are the kinds of things that brought me to God when I was LOST!

So ...My friends kept me here( whether they were religious or not) while I was finding my way back to God! They continue, still , to be a boon and a familiar link to my past! They continue to love me and not judge me! Of all the people I met in High School it was my true friends that knew how not to judge even while, or maybe because, they themselves were under a monstrous microscope of judgment from the surrounding world! They are my first link to how un-conditional love works. I did not learn this at home, but my friends they hung in there no matter what. even some that I said terrible things to continued later, after I asked forgiveness , to hold me close and be my real friends!

No person on this planet has had better friends than I have! The ones from times past and the ones in my present are all gems of the rarest kind! I am so very grateful for their love and their kindness! I hear all the time "Danelle you are so good at keeping in touch with me"...from many people. So Here is the "Key" factor with that gift...keeping in touch... when you really appreciate people for them and what they give you ...keeping in touch is not a chore but it is easy and you want to keep them ...forever( sometimes I don't call for a few years but when I do it is always received with open ears and arms)! I know that when I die and go back to live with God my friends( along with my family, because they too are part of my family) will be there to greet me/or me them because we have loved each other un-conditionally!

I have so much gratitude for how much Heavenly Father has watched over me and comforted me in this life...through friends, old and new!

I am grateful for my past...good times and bad.

Here's to you FRIENDS! And thank you for being there( I would name names but there are so many and YOU know who you are)! You are all truly tools in the hand of the Lord!

I am grateful for all the friends that I have met since High School, they are very amazing and special people and have such a grand roll in my life!...To those I have know my whole life as well! You are my FRIENDS and my FAMILY!Life would be empty without you! I love you!!!