This Weekend

I love willow trees. I mentioned this before. This picture of this one is absolutely breath taking. If I had a house, I'd plant one of these. The beauty of God's creation is absolutely amazing. 

This weekend was filled with blessings from the Lord. I won't go into too much detail because it feels a little weird to just reveal everything and leave it on the internet for anyone to find (freaks me out a little bit, not gonna lie here). But, at my retreat that I just went to, we had "mailboxes" made for people to put encouragement letters inside of. At the end of the retreat we all ripped them off the wall and went through them. Little notes like these can never be appreciated enough. It is truly the little things in life that get us by in life. No matter the situation and to whom, I think little acts of encouragement and love can really change someones day. These notes definitely made me smile and realize how blessed I am to have such a close knit family of sisters and brothers as I do. And, if you are curious about these notes, I will copy a few down here for you that weren't too personal. I'd be curious if I were you too.

Dear Christie,

I always enjoy your laughter and your beautiful voice. I love the way you smile . May God always be with you. 

just to add something to this- I do NOT have a beautiful voice. Seriously, my parents yell at me for singing too loud at home. But, nevertheless, this note was really sweet. Apparently a lot of people like my smile. 

Hi Christie,

I'm so glad to have you as a fellow sister in Christ. I actually do appreciate your random singing int he morning during the retreat... it keeps me awake. =] God bless ^^

Dear Christie,

 We have known each other since we were little. What I remember then and now is that you have a beautiful smile, are kind, and are weird in a good way. I know that times can be tough...

Christie,

I know you are struggling with the things you mentioned last night... For now, you have us, we are family, remember?  

These all go along with something that really stood out to me during this retreat - God's love and love in general. Considering that God is love, I guess true love is God's love. It can change someone so completely and only through His love do we even have the opportunity to talk and have a relationship with Him.