Family

I've been sitting in the library slowly chipping away at my HUGE block of homework and I decided it was time for a "blog break"! :)

Today I'm thankful for family. I have been incredibly blessed to grow up in a wonderful loving family. My parents have been happily married for almost 22 years. I have two younger sisters and two younger brothers who have become some of my very best friends. And of course I can't forget our precious puppies! Well....Will might be five now, but he will still ALWAYS be my puppy! :)

My parents have always worked hard to make our house a home and a place where we felt loved and cared for and they have done a great job. I know that I can always turn to them when I need prayers, advice, love, a good meal (always important to a college student!), a place to sleep, and really just anything!! It's something I've taken for granted. I guess since I've always had that I just assume everyone's life is the same way, but it has actually become a rare thing in today's world! And today I want to stop and take the time to say how very thankful I am for what I have been given!

And not only do I have wonderful parents, but precious siblings!! Of course we have our little (and BIG) squabbles, but we really do love each other! :) My sisters have become some of my closest friends. I usually get a text from at least one of them each day asking how I'm doing or how they can be praying for me. They do such a great job of keeping up with my crazy life even when I fail to keep up with theirs! I know I can trust them with anything and I can even turn to them for advice....I don't think wisdom necessarily has to come with age. Sometimes it amazes me how wise they are!! It's quite humbling actually!

And then there are the boys........oh goodness, where to begin?! lol. They are CrAzzZzyY!!! lol. And I love them for it!! We have so much fun together! Just last weekend I was home and I had the great privilege of chasing Stephen around the house and out the front door singing Justin Bieber songs while he ran away screaming "Make it stop! Make it stop!" Then as I followed him outside he circled around, ran back in the house and locked me out. Thankfully, monkey-man John Michael was watching from up in a tree and he hopped down ran through the garage and let me back in! haha. Then I put aside my love for JB long enough to play Band Hero with them for a while. We have formed a quite impressive trio that we like to call "The JKS Band"--JMM on drums, me on guitar, and Stephen as our lead singer. I'm convinced we could sing "Living on a Prayer" all day long!! They are a mess, but they are MY messes and I love every little messy bit of them!!!! :)

God is good to give us family and whether your family is like mine or different He has given us family to shape us and make us who we are today. They are in our lives for a reason. Stop and thank Him for them today!