Letter Writing

So my sister and I have started writing letters to each other. She only lives about 30 minutes away, but it's fun to get mail, and the both of us are better writing than speaking. It was her turn to write the letter this week, but it's been a rough week for me and I wanted someone to talk to, so I wrote her the letter instead. I just wanted to share a bit with you, because I know we all have bad days, bad weeks, struggles, and ups and downs. Life truly is a roller coaster sometimes, but I take comfort in knowing that God is in control, ALL the time. Anyway, here's a bit of my letter. I hope it encourages you.

"....Some days I feel like I'm falling apart at the seams, and no one even knows. Why can't they see it? Because I've learned to hide it, and to hold it inside. Before I knew it, people expected me to be like that----always smiling, always nice. They say I'm nice, but I'm afraid that if they saw me on the inside, they would be disappointed, disgusted even. I don't have it all together. I do have bad days. But it's like they don't realize that. 
     I struggle between being a good witness for my Savior, and trying to be perfect 100% of the time. I know that my imperfections are part of being a good witness, though. Like the Lord says, "My strength is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9). Yet I keep trying to be perfect: to be the one who has it all together. Do you ever feel like you're constantly fighting a battle inside between your emotions and what you know is the truth? So much conflict.
     Remember when you told me in your letter that I wasn't alone? That was the best thing I could have heard right then. To know that someone else struggled, someone else cried, and someone else smiled in spite of the pain. That meant the world to me...."

My sister is such a blessing to me, and I'm so thankful for the friendship that we have. I'm thankful I can be so honest with her, and I know she won't love me any less because of that. God is like that. Even though he sees my faults, my weaknesses, and my imperfections, He doesn't love me any less because of it. And for that I'm a truly thankful! I would be so lost without His grace and mercy. Great is His faithfulness.

Unofficial Sisters

So I have these two best friends. Growing up together, we have known each other our whole lives, and for me they're even closer than best friends. Kindred spirits? Definitely. When I'm around them I never have to worry about what they think of me, and I know that they accept me for who I am. So when we hang out I can relax and just be myself. Sometimes I think they know me better than I know myself! They might as well be my unofficial sisters. Seeing them always brightens my day, and no matter how long we're together I always hate to leave. We talk about the randomest things, and we've actually considered about doing a video blog. Even tonight we talked about the three of us sharing a blog and posting all our weird, strange topics that seem to come up when we're with each other. It's always so fun! I'm so thankful for the friends in my life, and I'm especially grateful for these two.

On a random side note, (See, what'd I tell you? My train of thought makes no sense), I found this really funny blog post. I'm determined to do this. http://colormekatie.blogspot.com/2011/06/planking.html