God, friends, and thankfulness.

These are a few of the things I'm so thankful for lately...

A few nights ago at work, a homeless guy came in and he wasn't "all there." He was hard to understand and loud and asking everyone to help him or give him things. I would have been freaked out except that one of the guys there was a cop! He comes in fairly regularly, and he wasn't in uniform but he talked to the guy and asked him not to ask people for things and then found out his birthday and looked him up on his computer and found out that he wasn't harmless. He "escorted" him out when we closed, and told us there was a police car nearby if there was any trouble. So thankful.

Last week I had 4 hours of talking to my friend Emily about her trip and my previous 2 weeks. We write back and forth a lot throughout the week and she doesn't mind when I ask her random questions whenever I think of it. We listen to each other when we're emotional, and have each other's backs in tough situations. I'm so blessed for a girl that I can reach out to and know she will be quick to respond, and that we're always there for each other.

It's nice to have friends and people I know come in to Starbucks throughout the week. Sometimes it's people from church / bible study, sometimes it's people I've just become friends with from them coming into Starbucks a lot, and more. Sometimes they just stop in to get coffee and leave, and other times they sit and stay a while. It's nice to get the hugs or sit with people on my ten minute breaks.

God really has placed so many people in my life over the years who have been a huge encouragement in my life, from elementary school teachers I've kept in touch with, to people from my home church, to people at my various jobs over the years. Some are the kind to just be sweet and remind me that God has a plan for my life. Some are the kind to say, "You better not be beating yourself up right now. Because if you are, stop it. You made the right decision, and if you had chosen differently you would have been miserable right now, don't you forget that."

And lastly, and most importantly, I am thankful for the way God has written out my days the way He wrote out people's lives in the bible. Yes, we see that grand moment where God showed up in someone's life to change things, but we didn't see the years of normal days in that person's life. Sometimes we just get glimpses of it when it says, "And they waited for 20 years." Are my roots deep enough and secure enough in the Lord to weather the storms when they come? Do I let circumstances sway me til I fall over? No. But my ears are open, ready to act when God asks me to. I'm also learning how to let go. I thought that as I got older, the ability to let go of things would get easier, as if it were a childish trait that I would grow out of with maturity. But alas, it's something that doesn't go away. It's a battle. It's me saying, "Wait, God, do you really want me to let this go? Am I hearing you right? But why is this season over? Why is this not what you want for me?" And then trying to have self-control to let it go. (I know, you're thinking of the Frozen song in your head. If you don't know the song, shame on you and go look it up on youtube, it's called "Let It Go.") But His plan is greater than mine. He hears my fears, He sees my tears, and He reminds me over and over again that although this life will not satisfy me, that He is still with me through the good and the bad times.