Blessings Abound

This time of year when there is only 3 weeks of school left and all the deadlines are coming nearer, it is easy to let that stress you out and get you down. However, instead of letting it get to me that much, i try to count my blessings, which always turns my outlook on life around.
This weekend God blessed me in inumerable ways. I will say a few. We had our second regatta on saturday in Grand Rapids, Michigan. On the drive up, we stopped at my house and enjoyed Mom and Dad's bountiful hospitality: warm bread, fresh food, and a fabulous slideshow certainly entertained the whole team, and the puppy dog made everyone feel right at home. It was just wonderful. Another blessing was being able to have Elizabeth's Mom here for the weekend- she flew in from Philidelphia for the race, and she and my parents brought us a great breakfast on the day of the race too.
Our race went great, my boat won first in our division!! It was such a thrill to work so hard and have it pay off. We beat Calvin (yay!), northwestern, and a few other schools. God gave us a victory! also, he protected us on the long drive, which can be pretty hazardous at times with a big boat trailer.
Being in GR again made me think about 10th grade, when I would drive up to GR every sunday afternoon to visit summer, and we would go snowboarding from 5-10 for $13 dollars at cannonsburg. We drove past both of her apartements on the way, and I wished so much that she still lived that close again!!l
Meanwhile, while i was winning a race in GR, I was missing a work day that is used to raise funds for the Youth Hostel Ministry i am going to europe with this summer. We are required to find replacements if we can't go on the work day, but nobody at school could do it, they were either gone on the regatta with me, or already working for someone else, or just busy. So good old Seth and Isaac drove down from michigan early saturday morning and worked all day for me. They were true servants for my sake. They just left to go back to michigan.
Yesterday after we won the race, we sang this song which applies to every minute that we breath: Praise God from whom all blessings flow, praise Him all creatures here below, praise him above ye heavenly hosts, praise Father Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.