havin' a hallelujah good time

Sunday's are hard days for me. 
If you know anything about my life story (Yes. I am aware that I've barely began my life.) you may understand why. Then again, you may not. 
I've went to church since before I was born. I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior at the ripe old age of three. At Mancelona Youth Camp I rededicated my life to him when I was around 13 (14?). So you could probably be safe in saying that I've spent the majority of my Sundays in a church. With my family. 
Church was my safe house. When my Daddy lost his job my freshman year of high school things got a little hard, but church was where everything was always normal. Church was where I had people who anonymously left Christmas gifts on our doorstep. Church was where I'd sit next to my Daddy and he'd lean down and whisper how pretty I looked. Church was a good, safe, beautiful place. 
Then a day came when even church wasn't so normal anymore. My sixteenth birthday. The day my Daddy died. It was unexpected. It was brutal. And even church became hard to go to. Not because I hated God. Not because I blamed God. But, simply, because Daddy wasn't there. It ended up that I had big shoes to fill, being his daughter and all. 
Even now that I go to a whole different church than the one I was raised in, it's weird. It's weird walking into a church without a Daddy there. It's weird. But, you know, that's okay. It's how my life is now, and I refuse to be bitter. I refuse to let what has happened to me define who I am as a person. I refuse to be sad all the time, because I deserve to be happy. Maybe your circumstances are out of your control. Maybe you're not able to work at your dream job. Maybe you've lost your best friend, be it by death or by a falling out. I only have one thing to say to you: Be joyful. Do not let what's happening define who you are as a person. I'm not going to say it's easy, but it is possible. Optimism is a lifestyle choice, choose it. Nobody is bring you down but yourself. 


On a lighter note: If you know what the title is from (without google) we will surely be best friends for life, guurl.