Overwhelmed

I have been more than overwhelmed with how blessed I am in the past few days. Don't get me wrong, I have not been all smiles and laughs to be around 24/7; there have been ups and downs for sure. But, I am beyond blessed to be so surrounded by so many loving, encouraging, and supportive friends and family (or to quote Sloan, "frimily" because sometimes it can go both ways and I could not agree more).

In the past few days, I have: cried a lot (definitely the "ugly" crying...I'm not gonna lie and say I look cute when I cry), been bitter, prayed a whole lot, dealt with the shock of "what next?" and "why me?", and overwhelmed with a whole wave of almost every emotion in between. With all of those emotions, I also have seen the silver lining.

God has blessed me with friends that know my heart and know when I need to be cared for. I crashed in on the Harwood's on Tuesday night for dinner and a long reassuring talk from both Jerry and Heather. I drove off the mountain straight home to Marietta to be comforted by my mom. Sadly, I my body wouldn't let me sleep in on Wednesday morning, so instead I ran, made a yummy lunch, and got back on the road to work a retreat at camp by Wednesday night. Although it was rainy and cold, I was so grateful to be busy and be at a place I love more than almost anywhere else.

Excuse my attempt of being artsy...I had to give it a shot though, right?

After the retreat, I headed up the mountain to babysit for the Holts (or as I was corrected tonight by Emily Holt, it's kidsitting because they are not babies! ha!) After Susan and Brant came back from celebrating her birthday dinner and I ended up staying and talking to her for nearly an hour and a half!! She was so encouraging, uplifting, loving, generous, complimentary, and I just cannot say enough about how much our conversation meant to me.

Conversations like the one I had with Susan Holt, hugs like I've gotten from Heather Harwood, emails like the one Sloan sent me, knowing that my mom is there to hand me tissues and wipe my tears, comments on my blog like Susan Liner, the intentionality of phone calls from friends like Alex Walker, Katy Fisher, and Taylor Huddleston are all reasons that I am overwhelmed by the love I feel from my friends that I don't deserve. I praise God for providing a strong support net that I have felt surround me over the last 2 days.

Losing a job is not the end of the world, but it's definitely enough to turn your world upside-down. I wouldn't wish this jarring circumstance on anyone, but if it means that you can feel the love I have felt and support of the prayer warriors in my life, then it really just might be worth it in the end.