Burgers’ Thanksgiving 2023

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever. —Psalm 107:1

Verla

… who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. —2 Corinthians 1:4

Lo and behold, you have come to the page written by your favorite Burger girl. Yup, I can say that now, and it has to be true since the rest are married and have different last names. I’ve had an adventurous year with lots of memories. I laughed a lot, cried a lot, sang more than ever (if that’s even possible), and I grew in many ways I didn’t expect. If you don’t have enough time to read my whole letter, here’s a brief summary of my year:

I held my nieces and nephew a bunch, changed many diapers, spent special time with my grandparents, enjoyed time with friends, laughed so hard with water in my mouth that I inhaled it and—no joke—thought I was going to choke to death, wrote a couple songs, learned how to play piano better, and much more. My year was made out of a bunch of little things that meant a lot to me, so if you are my friend and are reading through this, I want to thank you for being my friend and let you know that I really appreciate you. I couldn’t fit all the many kind words and fun times filled with laughter in this letter, even if I tried to. Ok, now for my year…

My year started out strong with my first nephew Steven being born and with a trip to TeenPact which was a blast. I learned lots about government. While taking a “lobbyist field trip” around the capitol I learned the hard way that all the lobbyists that day were talking about HIV, and some offered to test me. I nervously chuckled and informed them that I was pretty sure I didn’t need to worry about that. Ben, John, and I all got “elected” as clerks in different groups, and we had fun reading through the bills that the students wrote.

A few months later I played the role of a narrator in From Pilgrims to Patriots and had a fun time getting to know everybody, learning my lines, becoming a better actress, etc. I also did a community choir this summer and loved it. Dad has a link to it somewhere in his section. The same lady who directed it also has been giving me voice and piano lessons. I have learned so much, become a much better singer, and learned some pretty piano pieces and how to read and play notes.

I worked with Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) again this summer and had an amazing time at Christian Youth in Action, which was a week spent at Indiana Wesleyan University where about 50 of us learned how to teach the Gospel to children. I made lots of friends and was challenged and encouraged. I loved getting to teach children and even help counsel a few. It’s unbelievable that 20 children came to believe in Jesus for the first time during our 5-Day Clubs! It was so sweet to see the differences in the lives of the children even within a 5-day timespan. I enjoyed helping with attendance most days, so I got to say hi and give smiles to all the children, as well as making it more personal because I knew their names (except for the one club where we had 50 children… that one was challenging to remember all the names and pronunciations 😅).

In the summer I made a couple trips to different places and made a lot of fun memories. I made around 200 cake pops for Mariah’s wedding with the help of my neighbor and friend Abby.

I flew down to Georgia with Mom, Dad, and Gruce (my emotional support stuffed goose 😂). I met my niece Angie and enjoyed getting to hold her and play with her.

I did Cross Country again and loved almost every minute of it. There were a few times where I came home and wanted to quit because practice was really hard, and I felt like I was worse or weaker than others, but I pushed through it and ended up glad I stayed. I enjoyed friendships with the other girls and even a few girls from other teams. There were sweet moments where in the middle of running 3 miles competitively we’d encourage each other and stick together even though we weren’t teammates. Everyone (except for the few girls that were nasty and tripped people and shoved people to try to win) was super kind and encouraging. During the races Ben and John ran around cheering me on and giving me the exact words I needed to hear. As soon as I crossed the finish line, John was there to help support me and to congratulate me on a great run. John and I both had fast seasons (although he is significantly quicker than I am). At the state championship race, John was there like always at the finish line when I told him that I couldn’t walk. At my second time through the woods at the notoriously difficult Horizon Christian School course, I began to notice pain in my hip, and as I ran, it got worse. I was in eleventh place with a little under a mile to go. By some miracle I was able to sprint finish, and get sixteenth place. John (along with the much-appreciated help of my mother, last year’s middle-school coach, and this year’s coach) helped me walk. I couldn’t put any pressure on my right leg because it sent pain to my hip. He helped me do stretches and with the help of another teammate helped support me so I could participate in the award ceremony. He’s an awesome man with a servant’s heart. Two of my friends, Olivia and Keira, came to my house to give me hugs and flowers the day of my injury, which was very much appreciated. I spent the next couple days in crutches and hardly walking, but was quickly off crutches. In about a week I could walk with little pain, and in a few weeks I walked painlessly. Now I can jog occasionally, but I’m not pushing it.

I went to Camp Crosley with my friend Abby (not the one I made cake pops with) and loved spending time with her as well as getting to do all the fun activities there, such as the giant swing, rock wall climbing, tubing, swimming, and nine square. Unfortunately my stomach wasn’t as happy as I was, and I threw up during the second night, but through all of this Abby was super kind and helped me to not be miserable. Thank you, Abby, for helping camp be so much fun!

In the last letter I mentioned fingernails, so I’d better mention them here, too. I am no longer painting nails, because the chemicals are too much for me and literally make me sick. On special occasions I will mask up with good airflow, keep my head as far away as possible, and do nails, but it’s only once every few months, not every other day. Also my dear hamster Buttercup passed away a couple months ago, which was quite sad. His photo is above in my photos. He was an awesome pet. I haven’t gotten a pet after him, and I probably won’t for a while so I have more time to get school done.

I also mentioned song writing last year, so I will try to cover that quickly. I have had many sore throats and been busy, so I haven’t published any songs yet. My plan is to work on fixing up my songs, adding harmonies in some places, adding other musical things, etc. My hope is that when I turn 16 and can drive by myself, I will produce songs. If you don’t have my email, you may have this one: burger2009author@gmail.com. Please let me know if you want me to publish my songs or if you have any specific songs you want to hear me sing. I love getting song recommendations and learning new songs and techniques. If you are still reading, you are very devoted, and thank you for your time. Happy Thanksgiving!!!