What a day, learing about God's grace and the honesty of good friends.

Today has been such an interesting day. It started out with sadness,depression, anger towards God, anger towards my church. But now the day has a whole new meaning. I love my friends so much. Thank you for the encouragement. I'm gonna call a couple of them out, not by name, by what they said, which changes how I've viewed this whole situation. First I heard this from a friend late yesterday.

But I am worried about you, or at least I would be if I wasn't convinced that God loves you and has you right where you need to be, in the circle of his arms held so tight.

I thank you my friend, thank you for caring, thank you for being real and telling me how it is! that statement helped me get through the past 36 hours.

Then I spent part of today with another good friend. I told him that I feel like every time I get through one struggle, its another thing. He then explained to me how

it's not a struggle after another struggle but instead steps to get closer to Jesus at the foot of the cross.

That was also so AMAZING to hear, that I need to be on my knees, at the cross. In my life, I've always preferred to try to work through my issues alone, and to have a friend tell me something like that was just amazing. This friend knows the power of Christ love, and knows how much it changes everything. That's just what I need!

And then yet again, another bit of wisdom.

God is not picking on you. Years from now, you’ll look back and think, “Wow, what a fool I was.”. And you’ll see progress (1 Peter 2:4-5).

Oh THANK YOU, so awesome to hear. I never thought I'd be happy to have someone tell me that I will look at my life and say I was a fool, but coming from someone who is honest when speaking, and always keeping Christ at the center of everything, It was so great to hear. I'll say it now, What a fool I am, what A fool I have been, and I'm sure I will continue to be one, though hopefully with God's grace, I will not be a fool. Thank you Lord for trials, for they teach me of your redeeming Grace and love, and the love of the friends I have around me. Thank you for the next month. Give me patience through these step to the cross.