Thankful for Family

The days are passing by so quickly and I can hardly catch my breath. One minute I'm having a nice conversation just hanging out with a friend and before I know it, it's the next day and I am on my way to meet up with another friend to hang out with. I seem to miss a lot when I blink. Anyways, sometime this week my youth group family held a goodbye party for Tyson and I. It was deff. the highlight of my week. As I looked around the at all the friends/family members I have made over the years I can't help, but think of all the memories we've made over time. I would look at each individual person and see how much they've made an impact on my life weather they knew it or not. I would remember each time we hung out, or laughed together, or (for some of the kids there) babysat them. It seemed like just yesterday I would be planning meetings to hang out or plan out my babysitting schedule for the week, and now here I was saying goodbye to all I held dear. It was deff. a weird feeling, it's as if I was saying goodbye to my own family members fully knowing that I might not see most of them ever again. No more sleep overs, watching movies, hanging out at Greco's, random inside jokes, and most of all the talks we had about our Spiritual lives that encouraged me beyond anything. It was like getting a breath of fresh air when hearing about someone else's walk with Christ and how we can just walk through life together. I knew there would always be someone I could count on praying for me and encouraging me through the hard times in life. I knew there was always someone to run to when I needed help and they always had me too if they ever needed it. We are a family, that's what we do. Just thinking about leaving them behind breaks my heart to think that I can't do that anymore, but at the party all I heard was encouraging words for the life up ahead. They assured me that we could still be family no matter what part of the world we will be. They knew that God had amazing things ahead and how He would use me there in ways I can't even imagine at the moment. It was hard accepting that promise at first, but I know that they were right and even if we don't meet in this world, we'll all meet in Heaven. And I like that alternative :) I just wanted to use this blog post to thank everyone who has been a part of my life while I was here in Egypt. I know for a fact ya'll have impacted me in so many ways, maybe more than you'll ever know, always encouraging me towards our Lord Jesus and helping me become the woman that I am today. So I thank you guys so much for all the laughs, craziness, and all the fun times we had together. I will miss ya'll so much! I am so thankful that God put each and every one of you in my life. Thank you for everything, I mean it from the bottom of my heart. I'll close off with a part of a poem I wrote.

"We are special in God's eyes. We are bonded with special ties.
That can't be seen by human eyes, but we know it's there.
Strong and unshaken. Forever more it can't be taken."

Love Lots
Marie