My Own Umbrella

"We each have to walk
through life on our own,
but no one should have to
do it alone"
~Sheri Dew

When I was 19, I got the amazing opportunity to visit Europe with my parents and sister Kathryne. On that trip we got to visit Stonehenge in England. It was a stormy, cold, windy, rainy day! There were a lot of people saying they didn't even want to get off of the bus because it was so wet and cold. I remember saying "Ah com'on! A little rain never killed anyone!" I jumped off the bus, without an umbrella or any rain gear of any sort, and took off to explore the beautiful place we were at. After about 5 minutes, I was soaked through, freezing cold and started seconding guessing my decision to get off the bus. That's when I turned around and saw my mom standing behind me with her umbrella. She offered to share that umbrella with me, and I got to enjoy Stonehenge a bit longer.

How much is that like life? We all have "rain" that falls. We all have storms that blow through. What's so awesome is that the Lord has also given us many different umbrellas to help shelter us from the storm. My umbrellas are the Gospel, the scriptures, my family, priesthood blessings...but for me, the biggest umbrella sheltering me from the storm is made up of my friends.

I have been blessed with some of the most amazing friends a girl could ever ask for. Some have been friends since we were little kids, some have been brought into my life more recently, but ALL have provided me with a safe place to wait out the storm.

To these friends, old and new, THANK YOU! Thank you for helping me stay out of the rain! I love each and every one of you more than you'll ever know!