​Every day throughout the week I wonder what I’m going to write in my blog post. But this week was a no-brainer. I pride myself on not being a frequent visitor to the hospital but this past Thursday I found myself in the ER.  
This sudden, abrupt trip to the hospital really showed me the unpredictability of life. I was feeling fine about four hours before I was supposed to be at work and then the pain came. It was dull at first and then kept getting worse. By the time it was time to leave for work and I saw I couldn’t keep any food down, I knew it was time to call in and say I couldn’t make it. I called in and a fellow producer arranged for someone to pick me up from my apartment and take me to the ER. One of my awesome co-workers took me to the ER and another one came as well. Can I say each of these people worked an 8+ hour day then stayed with me at the hospital an additional six hours.  Phew, talk about making a girl feel special.

It’s always my policy to look back at experiences and see if I can learn from the bigger picture.  
1.)    I need to drink my fluids. We’re supposed to drink 6-8 glasses of water a day and I was drinking roughly 0.5 glasses a day! 
2.)    Always treat people nice, you just never know when you’ll be at their mercy. Sure, any decent co-workers would have taken you to the hospital, but would they have stayed? Would they have tried to make you feel as comfortable as possible? 

       A few scriptures (all NIV) on how to treat people, friends or not:
       “‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12: 31)
       “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: whoever loves God must also love his brother.” (1 John 4: 20-21)
       “Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles do not let your heart rejoice.” (Proverbs 24: 17)
       “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you...” (Matthew 7: 12)
 

     I love my family.  The awesome thing about family is that they love you unconditionally. You can be your complete self around them, and they accept you. Family is always in your corner and cheering you on. I’ve especially felt the love of my family during my recent move to a city where I hardly knew anyone and accepted a job that is super stressful. Throw on top of that a tinge of heartache and you’ve got a trying last couple of months! But thank goodness for the family to lean on hundreds of miles away. I know their prayer and positive words and thoughts are sustaining me.  
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     In addition to my family I’ve had the second-best thing to help me out as well, great friends who are like family. People who will listen to me babble on the phone and tell me the things I may not want to hear. I encourage you to lean on your family; and if you’re estranged…reconnect. Life is too short not to be on good terms with our family. And if you don’t have any close family find some good friends and lean on them. But make sure these friends are adding to your life and not taking away, building you up and not holding you back. There’s a ton of great scripture on friendship:
 

        “Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.” (Proverbs 11:14) 
        “Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” (Proverbs 27:17) 
         “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals.’” (1 Corinthians 15:33) 
         “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” (John 15:12-15)