~19~

My friend recently posted on Facebook and said, "Since the virus is titled Covid-19, I want to brighten your day with 19 things that I am thankful for and hope to never take for granted." She then challenged me to do the same. Honestly, I was so excited to write these things down here in a post and to take a moment to brag on my God for a bit :) I have been reading through the book of Psalms lately, and I cannot even begin to tell y'all how many times I have seen the words rejoice, praise, and sing. It has been so convicting to read about how much I am supposed to praise God, compared to how much I have been praising Him (let's just say...I really need to work on this one). Anyway, I am so happy that my friend, Morgan, challenged me to do this! So here goes.....

1) My Salvation - of course, this is an obvious one...but one that needs to be said nonetheless. As I wrote this one down, I started thinking about how much more I need to thank God for His sacrifice for my life. If you are not 100% sure that you are going to Heaven when you die, then send me an email and I would love to share the Good News with you! (you can find my email on the My Info section on the sidebar)

2) God's Word -  I cannot even begin to describe how much God has used His Word to comfort me during this time when the world is panicked because of this virus.

3) My parents and siblings - I truly think that I have the best family ever ;)

 4) My church family - With services being closed for two weeks in order to keep everyone safe, it is showing me how much I miss my church family and enjoy being around them. 

5) The Best Sister-in-Law ever! - Tabitha is just like a sister and I cannot imagine having a better sister-in-law

6) My Sunday School class - I absolutely LOVE my Sunday School kids, and I wouldn't trade this ministry for the world. 

7) The music ministry - This is one of my favorite ministries (can you tell that I have a lot of favorites?;). I love being able to serve and honor the Lord through music.

8) My college - I love it that I can do college online and continue to work in the ministries of my local church. It has been such a blessing! 

9) My VBC friends - When I started online college, one of my worries was that I wouldn't be able to make friends because of it being online. But! God has again blessed and given me an amazing and incredible group of friends. We text and video chat a lot and it always brightens my day. 

10) Sweet tea and diet coke - There is nothing like sitting on the porch with an iced tea or diet coke! (In fact...I'm sipping on a diet coke while I type this post...don't be jealous)

11) French Fries -  yes....I said that I'm thankful for french fries :) I will take them made any way: plain, covered in gravy, dipped in ranch, covered in philly cheese steak and sauce, dipped in ketchup/mayo...need I go on?

12)  Morgan Rollins - she is literally the sweetest friend ever and I consider her one of my best friends. She is always texting me something encouraging or something amazing that happened on her bus route that day. She even calls just to simply pray together. I love every text and call I get from her! <3

13) The opportunity to volunteer at HSCS - I love helping out at this elementary school. It absolutely makes my day when I hear the students shout out "Miss Brenna!" when I walk into the classroom.

14) The Future "One" - It may sound a little silly, but I am thanking the Lord now for the one that He will bring into my life, whenever that may be. Even though it may be hard to wait for God's timing, I know that I simply need to trust in His perfect will.

15) Nieces - I may be a little biased, but I literally have the cutest nieces ever!

16) Sunshine - Cloudy days can be pretty, but there is nothing like a day full of sunshine.

17) Psalm 73:25-28 - These are my favorite verses in Scripture! The Lord led me to these verses when I was going through a hard time in my life, and it has become even more special to me since then.

18) Amazing preachers in my family - Seriously...my favorite preachers are my dad and my two brothers.They are so good!

19) You! - I know it sounds crazy, because I don't know exactly who is reading this right now. It is even humbling, because I have no clue why you would want to read something that I wrote. But! I am praying for you :) Whoever you may be, I am thankful for you.





Well...there you go! Honestly, the list could go on and on, but that would make for an incredibly long post, so I will spare you the hours of reading ;)

I know it is scary out there right now, but as Christians, we have a God that helps us through anything we may face.

Don't panic - Have patience.
Don't fear - Have faith.
Don't be a pessimist - be a powerful prayer.