30 THINGS IN 30 YEARS-While it may be something I have learned, things that happened, etc. It's my blog and my brain works at random things. I may go into detail and then I may make it short and sweet. So here goes...
1.) I have not always been a faithful follower of our God Almighty. And after spending 1.5 years at the Memphis School of Preaching, I realized that my "faithful Christian" life left a lot to be desired. I never realized I was lacking so much. I still find it hard to say that I am living faithfully now because I feel like God deserves so much more than I am giving. But I will keep striving and Heaven will surely be worth it all.
2.) Being a Christian is only as hard as you make it. There are many different viewpoints in this world of what Christianity should be defined as. Which is so sad because according to the Sciptures(please read)...
"There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all." (Ephesians 4:4-6 KJV)
We should ALL be in unity of God's Word. I gave up a worldly life to pursue a life being a follower of God. Only within the last year or so, have I learned to be a servant. There are so many things of this world that we can particpate in that was not created by God. Drugs, alcohol, immorality...Man created these things because it's what makes man feel good. It's because, we as people, are selfish and we want what makes us happy and we forget that while we are trying to please ourselves, we are not pleasing God. One of my favorite Bible passages reads,
"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." (Romans 12:1, 2 KJV)
Jesus was Holy, Pure, Without Blemish...He never did any wrong. We are suppose to follow His example according to the following "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. "(Philippians 2:5-8 KJV) No, we aren't going to be perfect and we will still stumble in the light but we must push forward and keep striving for a home in Heaven. Don't conform yourself to wordly lusts, conform yourselves to the will of God. It will be worth it!
3.) Getting down on your knees to pray will humble you and change your life. It did mine. I say this even though I have only done it once, for sure, and I think twice. That first time reigns in my mind. Grab a box of tissues and get down there!
4.) I have one very amazing husband who decided two years ago to devote himself to God and teaching his Word and he gets excited about it. He is my spiritual leader and I am so thankful for that because I need it. He is humble. He is funny. He makes me smile. He is smart. He has a good memory. He has a wealth of random information that sometimes I wonder where it came from. He never gives himself enough credit for the good in him. He loves me for me when I am crazy silly, when I am emotional and when I am mean. He loves me. All of me. And I love all of him. He is my best friend.
5.) As much as Jeremy loves me and I love him, God loves us more!
6.) Life never really goes as planned. "Blessed are the flexible for they shall not be bent out of shape." (NOT FROM THE BIBLE)
7.) You don't have to live in the same town as your best friends to still be best friends. One of my very best friends now lives in Africa and I still talk to her everyday.
8.) You don't have talk to your best friend everyday to still be best friends. Life gets in the way and we get busy but the times we do get to talk our wonderful and very appreciated and needed far more than either one of us know.
9.) Friends are wonderful whether they be best friends, close friends or friends. They make your world a happier place.
10.) I just learned today that judgment is not spelled judgement and I considered myself a decent speller. That rocked my world and made it more difficult to type that word after that.
11.) Jeremy and I use to think we were busy before we moved to Memphis and he began his studies at MSOP. That word has been completely redefined to us.
12.) I can function on less sleep than I ever knew was possible. I also know that it is not a good thing and can cause some health problems.
13.) I am awkward. When I am uncomfortable or talking with some that I am not use to being around or do feel comfortable with, I will mess up my words. Any intelligence, that thought I MIGHT have, is gone and I sound like a blubbering idiot. Yes, I said blubbering.
14.) I talk funny(well it is for some). I didn't realize how country I was until we moved to Memphis and I was around people who spoke correctly and some northerners. I like my country talk even if I am not your typical country girl who hunts, fishes and goes muddin'.
15.) I have a hard time hiding my feelings.
16.) On my birthday, since I have been older, I have wondered what my birth mother was thinking that day or if she reflected on that year and how many years it had been since she had given birth to me. That is what she did she gave birth to me and to be quite honest, that's all she did. She passed away two years ago and although I had been given the opportunity to meet with her and ask her questions, I was so nervous that day that I don't remember many of those answers and wished so badly that I had written them down. And this year, I couldn't help but think how she would have felt knowing she gave birth to a baby girl 30 years ago and how that made her feel. But on the flip side of that, she and my birth father gave me the biggest gift even if the gift wasn't well intended by one or both of them(I will never know for sure). They gave me a new home, a new life and new parents. Parents that through the toughest times both financially and health wise cared for me and loved me. They have always believed in me and have always pushed me to do the things that I didn't have the confidence to do. They supported me at every ballgame, through every report card and every graduation with hugs and I love you's. So on my 30th, I thought about them. I have no idea what it was like for my birth parents to turn their parental rights over and I have no idea what it was like for my parents, after raising children already, to take on a toddler full time. Either way, I am grateful for them all and grateful to God for placing them in my life and the way it all turned out. I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for that.
17.) Learn to love yourself. And I don't mean in that cocky, arrogant, I am the greatest there is way. I mean learn that you have self worth. YOU ARE WORTH SOMETHING!!! Even if you feel like you have no one, you always have God and God loves you. He may not always approve of the things that we do or the lifestyle that we live but He does love you, so love yourself. Know that you have worth and appreciate what you have been given.
18.) "If we don't stand for something, we will fall for anything." If we don't ground ourselves in the Word of God and use that as our guiding light in life, we will fall. Flat on our faces. I know not everyone in this world agrees with that, but I believe that wholeheartedly. Stand for God. Don't back down. Don't be ashamed.
19.) You really do start like more types of food as you get older. Several months ago, I tried chicken pot pie. That was pretty big deal for me, but it was yummy. I still can't eat seafood. I have tried to like shrimp and it ain't happening. Jeremy keeps pushing me to eat chicken livers and gizzards-no, thank you. But other than a few odd things, I am growing to like more veggies. My veggies use to be potatoes and mac and cheese.
20.) Marriage isn't always easy. And for those who want to run and talk about that...feel free. I am being truthful. I don't know if any married couple has ever went thru their marriage without one single fight no matter how big or small. Just because I say that, it doesn't mean that we have a terrible marriage so please read that again if you need to. I think we have a good marriage and I think Jeremy would agree with that. That doesn't mean we have not had our ups and down and sideways and all overs but we love each other and made a commitment to stay put and work it out. On our wedding day, we promised God that we would. Now, I don't remember much of that, but I do know we said it. It's a slow learning process to pick my battles. I can be difficult at times. And I have the most patient husband. He is way more than I deserve. It's amazing the changes that take place thru the years, the things that use to bother me no longer bother me, things that didn't bother me now do. It's just funny. But marriage is awesome and fun. Jeremy makes me laugh every single day. Always put God first in your life in general and in your married life. It changes you. You desire to try harder in every way if you are putting God first like you are commanded and not how you think you should.
21.) A little bit of kindness goes a long way. It certainly never hurts to smile at every one you meet, nod your head or say how are you? And don't always assume someone is lazy and hates their job when they are the nicest to you. They could have had the worst week ever. We don't know other people's trials.
22.) Your family will always be your family no matter how far away you are or how much you have changed. You may not always see eye to eye but you do always love each other.
23.) We really can live without TV. One of my very best friends hasn't had cable/satellite-don't hold me to this-but I don't think since they were married....9 years ago. I thought that was the craziest thing in the world and how could I ever possibly live without it. Then they came out with DVR and that made my world an even better place. If two of my favorite shows were on at the same time, no problem, just record one. THEN, we moved to Memphis and I didn't work for several months and I still would watch TV some. I would iron or fold clothes and watch it while I did that or in the mornings. Jeremy rarely watched it from the beginning. Then I started working and full time MSOP life hit and you realize that there is hardly any time for it. Once you get use to not having it, you realize you can live without it. That is not to say that we don't ever watch it because it doesoccasionally get watched. Hulu or Netflix is what we usually use though and of course Redbox if we have free time to watch a movie. They are usually reserved for weekend treats for date nights at home.
24.) I miss home a lot more than I thought I would. I was so sad leaving it. Leaving a job I loved with people I loved working with, leaving my family and just everyday simple things. We both transitioned really well and love living here, but we love when we get to go home and visit. I have no idea where we will end up after school but maybe it won't be too far away.
25.) I am complicated. I am a thinker and it gets me trouble. I have a crazy imagination even at 30. I am a worrier. I have gray hair and I know it's from over-stressing and worrying.
26.) I have learned that things don't always go as planned. I was going to be married at 20, first child at 22....I was married at 22 and 7+ years later....still no children. Definitely not what we planned. But it is what it is. The longer time has gone by, the easier it has been to deal with it(for me). There is still those days that everybody has announced their pregnancy on facebook or they just found out what they were having or they just delivered and those are the days that I want to sit with a big tub of ice cream and a box of Kleenex. But the majority of the time, we survive and hope that one day we can adopt.
27.) A dishwasher really is a wife's best friend.
28.) Have you ever said these words..."I just LOVE that author." Have you ever wondered why you don't study your bible on a regular basis and take to heart what is in it? You don't love the author. I didn't realize that I didn't love the author until Brother Keith Mosher gave us a wonderful illustration about reading the letters his wife sent him while he was in the military. He said he read them all the time because he loved the author. How much do you love God? How much do you study your Bible?
I am working on being better about that.
29.) Never ever ever take your preacher, parents, friends, insert anyone else's words about the Bible as truth. NEVER!!! STUDY YOUR BIBLE AND FIND OUT FOR YOURSELVES. God gave us the Scriptures for us to live our lives by. Study them. Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15 KJV)
30.) 30 really hasn't been as bad as I thought it would. Hopefully my next 30 years will be just as good!
And as a side note...my grammar and punctuation is terrible. English was never my best subject. So don't judge me. :)
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