12 months = 365 days.

A lot can happen in a year whether it's good or bad. God has done a lot in my life this year and for the better. this idea came from my favorite author, I'm going to show you a picture of each month this past year.

In January 2015, I began preparing to graduate in May. It was a fun exciting time!

February,I walked my very last parents night. 4 years of parents nights. my parents have supported me in 

everything I do but especially cheer. 

March,I attended my first Focus conference with VOX youth, as well as participated in Peter Pan the Musical. It was a very busy month

In April, My Aunt Karen,Uncle Dave, cousins Patricia and Thomas came to visit us because they couldn't attend my grad party. It was so fun to have them in town!

May, I graduated after 12 years of hard work at Kalamazoo Christian! That month was a hard month because we found out my Grandpa has stage 4 bone cancer yet I radiated so much joy in the journey. Also a senior trip to Chicago, as well as EmPowered Conference were my life was changed and I gained so much more confidence. Also May was Senior Chapel, were I spoke and I told about confidence journey, so thankful that God gave me this opportunity. 

in June I was a very happy Indians fan because we beat them tigers. 

In July I got a job at Rykse's Restaurant and I absolutely love it! I work with amazing people, so thankful God placed these people in my life!

In August I got to hang out with my bestie Kendra, it included lunch, ice cream, talking about boys. 

In September I started College.

October came around and we found out some rad news that Grandpas cancer is going down! 

November, is Thanksgiving and I am very THANKFUL for my Grandma and my bond with her as well as my Grandpa. 

December, I finished my first semester at KVCC with a 4.0 GPA. My Dad literally had surgery 4 days ago on his shoulder. 

This year has been a lot of ups and downs. I've embraced this season I am in. I've embraced it with JOY and being Thankful! I am thankful for Jesus and for His love for me and his amazing grace and mercy for me. 2015 you've been good to me, but 2016 holds so much more for me!

The Countdown is on.

A week from Monday my Dad will be having complete shoulder reconstruction.

  Now I've been preparing for this for weeks, we found out in October that he'd finally be having surgery because it is really bad.

my perspective.

I've been trusting God and I know this will help Dad in the long run. I've been telling myself that I will be okay and I've got to be strong. After going to a few pre-surgical appointments with him. Today I wanted to go to his appointment with mom and him to hear more about what is going to happen on the day of surgery. Also if I had any questions I could ask them, I had none that I could think of because I was speechless. What happened at this appointment was they took x-rays and they wanted to see the flexibility he has. Now keep in mind, that I'd been telling myself I'm okay, God's got Him covered and He's going to be okay. But that's when I lost it, the Physician's Assistant asked me if I had any questions, I responded "no, I just want to cry and I proceeded to start to cry."
 As his daughter it is very hard for me to see him in pain and its very hard for me to hear about what they are going to do and to know he is going to be in pain for awhile and it will be painful for him to go through physical therapy. For the first six weeks he'll have some at home therapy to do.
   One thing I've really clung to during this whole process is the song Trust you by Lauren Daigle as well as Loyal by Lauren Daigle ( seriously, y'all should check those two songs out. they are ah-mazing!) I'm going to share the choruses of each of these songs. I've also really clung onto psalm 13:5 " But I trust in your unfailing love, I will rejoice because you have rescued me." I am so thankful for the peace that God has given me!

Loyal by Lauren Daigle

Your love is, Your love is
Your love is loyal
Your love is, Your love is
Your love is loyal
More faithful than the rising sun
This grace for me I can't outrun
Your love is, Your love is
Your love is loyal

Trust in You by Lauren Daigle
"When You don’t move the mountains I’m needing You to move
When You don’t part the waters I wish I could walk through
When You don’t give the answers as I cry out to You
I will trust, I will trust, I will trust in You!"

these have really helped me the last few weeks and I can tell you this these songs and verses are going to get me through the next few weeks and months. 

the countdown is on 9 days until Dad's surgery. 

xo my people. have a very Merry Christmas! 

Cancer you're going down!

 Over 6 months ago my Grandpa was diagnosed with stage 4 bone cancer. These last 6 months have not always been easy. You see, a few days after his treatment, he is tired, not really hungry but after those couple days it goes back to "normal" per se.
  You see for the first months of his diagnosis, I was really confused and really lived in doubt of what if he doesn't beat this and what if he dies? You see from that very moment I started praying Isaiah 53:5 over him.

Isaiah 53:5
But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.

Just last month we received great news that the Cancer was going down, and these past few days have been stressful because he's been in a lot of pain. So I began to worry about his appointment yesterday. BUT yesterday he got another great report the Cancer is still going DOWN! gosh I serve an amazing God!

I've learned a lot in these last 6 months..

• relying on God for everything not just when it's relevant for me
• standing on His promises for me 
• loving the time I get to still spend with my Grandpa
• starting each morning with God, searching His word 
• the power of prayer is so powerful and so active 
• being upset or mad about the problem isn't going to help anyone.
• I'm so thankful for my relationship with the Lord
• thankful for Jesus' unconditional love for me. 

Have a fabulous week! be thankful this week for what you have! Just because thanksgiving is over doesn't mean we stop being thankful! 

Xo