Changes Reinforced With Hugs

Every experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives, is the perfect preparation for the future that only He can see. ~Corrie Ten Boom

Today was a good day--not that it should be otherwise. I woke up with this in my spirit: There are always two ways to look at any situation--with an unthankful or a thankful attitude.

I am thankful for my best friend Jesus. We met for the first time thirteen years ago today. It was 10 days after my husband, Rich, and I were married. It happened at a three day motivational business seminar at the Sunday morning meeting. At this time I would like to publicly thank some very dear friends God placed in our paths--Ralph and Carrie Roeger--for inviting us to that meeting. It changed our lives for eternity. We are thankful and eternally grateful. We haven't seen them in years but they remain in our prayers. Their footprints are imbedded in our hearts. Their hugs are eternal.

My daughter and family just bought a house not far from us and moved my mother down from Virginia to live with them. They came to see me today. The woman who held me under her heart before I entered the world got to wrap her arms around me and hug me for the first time in almost three years. Priceless moments are easy to be thankful for. Being closer now they will not be so far between. I am thankful for that closeness once again. I had three generations of hugs today-my mother, daughter, and granddaughters. These times are so easy to be thankful.

When my husband and I are lying in bed tonight, I know our evening prayers will be extra special. We are thankful for our relationship with our LORD everyday but today marks the day I realized He had always loved me. I found out He first loved me. I didn't choose Him; He chose me first. Through all the mud of sin in my first thirty-seven and a half years of life, He loved me and showed me mercy. He had plans for me and the beauty of it all is everyday He enfolds a new page in the God story He is writing me into. Physically, the story is daunting. Spiritually it is beyond imagination. But He holds me in His hands. Gently, He hugs me and whispers (as I did to my granddaughter this morning) you are my precious princess and I love you with all my heart for all eternity. It doesn't get any better than that! Or at least not on this earth anyway.