pic a day - amazed and blessed

It never ceases to amaze me (after something like 4,963,792 instances and reminders) how very blessed I am. Obviously this reference in not in regards to today's pic of the day and my outstanding photographic abilities, but rather to what those three roses symbolize in my life. It is beautiful to me that lives that started at random points across the south and the midwest could collide in such a way at just the right moment with just the right amount of nurturing so as to produce lifelong friendships and kinships. Who knew that I would go to college at a place where the son of my great grandfather's dear friend and his wife would become my second parents? Who knew that Tina would come to visit JBC during my freshman year, stay with a girl who lived in my suite and that we would one day be roomies? Who knew that I would overcome my fears and come to love Carrie, the girl that in my mind threatened to take my friend Jake away? Not only didn't I loose my friend, I gained another (plus their two darling girls - and Tucker & T). Who knew that all these worlds would collide and that Larry would fight to give Tina the second chance no one else was willing to give and that he and Myra would offer their home to both Jake and Carrie? Who knew that their bond would grow when I came home? Who knew that guy named Palmer would someday wind up counting the hours until Larry arrived? Who knew that we would all swell with pride and honor because we know and love this country's newest Leutinent? And who knows what story is yet to be told. Our God knew because he planned it...each and every bit of it...he planned it. It was no accident, but rather by design. And he knows the next chapter, and the next, and the one after that. I am so thankful and I can't wait to see what's on the next page. I love you my friends!