I am blessed....

I grew up all over the country. My dad was in the Army, so we moved every 3-4 years. While I was blessed to see many states and countries through the years, I did not learn how to develop lasting friendships. That just wasn't done in the military community, at least not among the children.

I have lived in my current location for right at twenty years. It is a military community, and people are always coming and going from our lives. As I learned how to do as a child, I have kept people at arms length. I do have people that I call friends, but I'm very hesitant to reach out to them, even though some of them have lived here longer than I have.

The past ten days have really shown me that I do have friends. Good friends. Friends that I know I can reach out to at any time for any reason. First there was the birthday party that Ed and my friends from church threw for me. Then there are the 24 b-day cards sitting on my mantle. Most are from LOSTies, and they are all filled with words of encouragement and love. Add to that a handful of thoughtful gifts and lots of hugs and smiles, and you have an unexpected blessing of a birthday! But the icing on the cake is what arrived in the mail today - totally and completely unexpected - a James Avery gift cert from another very special friend who I don't get to see very often! I'm in tears! I truly had no idea that I have so many people that care about me. I can only thank God for using this birthday to show me how much I am loved!

Thank you to everyone that made this birthday so special! I am blessed!