Twenty-Three Things
I had a birthday a couple of days ago. I've been thinking back on the last year and all the things it left me with. I'm thankful for the things I've learned, and I thought I would share 23 of them with you (in no specific order).
I'm convinced pain does one of two things to a person: it either shuts them down or wakes them up. I think I'm the kind that wakes up. Pain gave me courage to do things I would have never been able to do without it. So I'm thankful for the moments when I was hurting because it somehow made me brave.
When you're in the thick of something it's hard to see it for what it really is. When you're finally far enough removed, you can stop making excuses and come to terms with what it was and just be thankful for what it taught you and move on.
God is faithful. This one is my favorite things I learned. He finishes what He starts. And when it says "no good thing does He withhold," it's true. I think I finally settled it that He knows better than I do. I'll probably re-learn that a million times over in my life, but I sure learned it this last year in a deep way.
You can love someone deeply in every way you know how, but you can't make them love you back—at least not in the way you want or need them to. And just because you love them doesn't mean they are right for you.
Sometimes you should call in to work and do something fun. You have your whole life to work but that concert is a one-time thing.
On the flip side of that: working hard pays off. When you show up to work every shift, show up and work hard. Even if no one notices, even if no one says thank you, even if you don't want to.
God's timing is perfect. I think this goes right along with Him being faithful, but I like the way He shows up just in time—not a second too soon or a second too late. Looking back on the last year, He always came through at just the right time.
Counseling is hard work and people don't always understand it. I'm not embarrassed anymore that I chose to go to counseling. I think learning about myself and learning compassion for myself gave me more compassion and tolerance for other people.
People are nothing more than people. They are not your medicine or your rescue or your fix or "yours." I learned this last year that when I viewed my friends, family, patients, coworkers, etc as the Lord's before they were "mine," it gave me perspective on how I treated them and also changed what I expected from them.
Surrender is not the same thing as defeat, especially when you are surrendering something to the Lord. It's a win, even if it's painful. One of the prayers I repeated the most was I don't want anything outside of what You have for me. Even if You have to pry my fingers from it, take it. I trust You.
My mom always told us growing up that emotions were great and necessary, but we shouldn't make decisions based solely off of emotions. That was a good guide for me growing up, and especially the last year. Pain gave me courage to do things, but I would still hear my mom's voice in the back of my mind, and it gave me the rationale not to do stupid things. (thanks Mom.)
Hospitality is one of the most intricate ways the Lord works. Earlier this year a family opened their home to me without even meeting me first, and it was some of the most precious 3 months. I'm forever grateful that Bob and Nancy took a chance and gave me a home. I met Jesus there in ways they'll never understand. I hope one day my home can be a place for someone like theirs was for me.
Community is hard work. But community trumps convenience every time. Community is precious and important and worth it. So buy the plane ticket or make the drive or cook the dinner. Find community and you'll find life.
Sass is not a fruit of the Spirit, even though I wish it was. So I'm working on choosing gentleness when I want to choose harsh words.
Humility is necessary for obedience. Pride will stifle obedience every time.
Be nice to new people, see them and talk to them. This sounds really elementary, but this has never been so important to me until I started traveling and becoming the new person every 3 months. It's hard. So now I have this special place in my heart for new people and I will never be lazy about saying hi or inviting them to coffee, even if they don't seem like my type of person.
There is still nothing sweeter or more relieving than hearing someone say, "Me too." It's what friendships are based off of. What lifts burdens and salves wounds. What makes us feel less crazy. So thankful for those two little words.
Writing is such a gift to me. I love writing. People started telling me, "You are so good with words." and I started to learn that they were right...and it made me a really good bullshitter. I could arrange the words just right and make the ugly things sound pretty, but sometimes they're just ugly. I learned that something you love can become something you hide behind, so I decided to stop hiding behind it and write more of what is true than what is pretty.
I should feed the homeless, take care of orphans, defend the elderly/widows. Not because it makes me feel good when I do those things (most of the time it makes me feel uncomfortable, not good), or because I "have a heart for it," or because my friends are doing it. I should do those things because the Bible says to do it.
Figure out who is on your home team and love those people hard. You can't be everything for everybody, but find a home team and show up for them.
You can cut your hair and move across the country and run a lot on the treadmill, but your crap follows you. (wrote a whole blog about that one, so I won't elaborate here haha)
I had never done a fast before, at least not for real. I started off this year with 21 days of the Daniel Fast, and I could write forever about what it taught me but I'll summarize it in this (even though it sounds funny): food is just food, and I will always want to crave Jesus more than I crave my next meal. I had to daily (seriously) pray, Jesus, I want you more than food, which is hilarious but it changed my perspective and taught me so much. Hunger and desperation are good teachers.
Oreos are still mana from Heaven. Of all the things that have changed the past year, that has not. Hallelujah. (Did you really think I'd leave Oreos off the list?)
I'm convinced pain does one of two things to a person: it either shuts them down or wakes them up. I think I'm the kind that wakes up. Pain gave me courage to do things I would have never been able to do without it. So I'm thankful for the moments when I was hurting because it somehow made me brave.
When you're in the thick of something it's hard to see it for what it really is. When you're finally far enough removed, you can stop making excuses and come to terms with what it was and just be thankful for what it taught you and move on.
God is faithful. This one is my favorite things I learned. He finishes what He starts. And when it says "no good thing does He withhold," it's true. I think I finally settled it that He knows better than I do. I'll probably re-learn that a million times over in my life, but I sure learned it this last year in a deep way.
You can love someone deeply in every way you know how, but you can't make them love you back—at least not in the way you want or need them to. And just because you love them doesn't mean they are right for you.
Sometimes you should call in to work and do something fun. You have your whole life to work but that concert is a one-time thing.
On the flip side of that: working hard pays off. When you show up to work every shift, show up and work hard. Even if no one notices, even if no one says thank you, even if you don't want to.
God's timing is perfect. I think this goes right along with Him being faithful, but I like the way He shows up just in time—not a second too soon or a second too late. Looking back on the last year, He always came through at just the right time.
Counseling is hard work and people don't always understand it. I'm not embarrassed anymore that I chose to go to counseling. I think learning about myself and learning compassion for myself gave me more compassion and tolerance for other people.
People are nothing more than people. They are not your medicine or your rescue or your fix or "yours." I learned this last year that when I viewed my friends, family, patients, coworkers, etc as the Lord's before they were "mine," it gave me perspective on how I treated them and also changed what I expected from them.
Surrender is not the same thing as defeat, especially when you are surrendering something to the Lord. It's a win, even if it's painful. One of the prayers I repeated the most was I don't want anything outside of what You have for me. Even if You have to pry my fingers from it, take it. I trust You.
My mom always told us growing up that emotions were great and necessary, but we shouldn't make decisions based solely off of emotions. That was a good guide for me growing up, and especially the last year. Pain gave me courage to do things, but I would still hear my mom's voice in the back of my mind, and it gave me the rationale not to do stupid things. (thanks Mom.)
Hospitality is one of the most intricate ways the Lord works. Earlier this year a family opened their home to me without even meeting me first, and it was some of the most precious 3 months. I'm forever grateful that Bob and Nancy took a chance and gave me a home. I met Jesus there in ways they'll never understand. I hope one day my home can be a place for someone like theirs was for me.
Community is hard work. But community trumps convenience every time. Community is precious and important and worth it. So buy the plane ticket or make the drive or cook the dinner. Find community and you'll find life.
Sass is not a fruit of the Spirit, even though I wish it was. So I'm working on choosing gentleness when I want to choose harsh words.
Humility is necessary for obedience. Pride will stifle obedience every time.
Be nice to new people, see them and talk to them. This sounds really elementary, but this has never been so important to me until I started traveling and becoming the new person every 3 months. It's hard. So now I have this special place in my heart for new people and I will never be lazy about saying hi or inviting them to coffee, even if they don't seem like my type of person.
There is still nothing sweeter or more relieving than hearing someone say, "Me too." It's what friendships are based off of. What lifts burdens and salves wounds. What makes us feel less crazy. So thankful for those two little words.
Writing is such a gift to me. I love writing. People started telling me, "You are so good with words." and I started to learn that they were right...and it made me a really good bullshitter. I could arrange the words just right and make the ugly things sound pretty, but sometimes they're just ugly. I learned that something you love can become something you hide behind, so I decided to stop hiding behind it and write more of what is true than what is pretty.
I should feed the homeless, take care of orphans, defend the elderly/widows. Not because it makes me feel good when I do those things (most of the time it makes me feel uncomfortable, not good), or because I "have a heart for it," or because my friends are doing it. I should do those things because the Bible says to do it.
Figure out who is on your home team and love those people hard. You can't be everything for everybody, but find a home team and show up for them.
You can cut your hair and move across the country and run a lot on the treadmill, but your crap follows you. (wrote a whole blog about that one, so I won't elaborate here haha)
I had never done a fast before, at least not for real. I started off this year with 21 days of the Daniel Fast, and I could write forever about what it taught me but I'll summarize it in this (even though it sounds funny): food is just food, and I will always want to crave Jesus more than I crave my next meal. I had to daily (seriously) pray, Jesus, I want you more than food, which is hilarious but it changed my perspective and taught me so much. Hunger and desperation are good teachers.
Oreos are still mana from Heaven. Of all the things that have changed the past year, that has not. Hallelujah. (Did you really think I'd leave Oreos off the list?)
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