How to Love the Life You Live, part 2

 

If you missed part 1 of this series, you can check it out here.  Part 1 focused on comparison and how that can steal our contentment.  In part 2 of this series, I am going to give you three practical ways to Love the Life You Live.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-17 “Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

One way to Love the Life we Live is to realize we are in this together, ladies. God gave us each other so we could grow, learn and share life together. None of us has it completely together, but there is someone who is further along on this life journey than you that you could go to for advice, prayer, or encouragement. Join a women’s bible study or ask someone to mentor you. Invite someone to coffee and ask them how they have handled similar circumstances in their life. Make that appointment with a counselor to help you through a tough season. Invest in relationships with the women in your life. Have a community, a tribe, a squad, whatever you call it, just have good people around you.

Another way to Love the Life you Live is to simply practice gratitude…like the Scripture says: “Be joyful always, give thanks in all circumstances.” I’m going to give you something practical and easy to do that will help cultivate thankfulness in y our life and allow you to see God at work more clearly. Start a gratitude journal. I have a gratitude journal where most days, I take a few minutes to write 5 things that I am thankful for. It really doesn’t take more than a few minutes and it boosts my spirit immensely.

Do you know what I realized once I started doing this? That most days I don’t want to stop at just 5 and that throughout the day, I begin to notice little things that I want to include in that day’s list. It may be something small, like a tiny hand inside of yours as you walk through the store, a sweet text from you husband, breathing in the smell of outside air right before a rain, a good talk with a girlfriend, a perfect rose flowering in your yard. And sometimes it will be bigger-sometimes you will see God answering prayers you’ve been praying for weeks, months or years.

A third way to Love the Life You Live is to recognize truth and live in it. We get a lot of messages these days about what a woman should be like. We should be strong but soft. We should be loving but firm. We should be independent but not bossy. Can I tell you something? You were fearfully and wonderfully made. God created you in His image. Whatever you are gifted at, God made you that way. Your eye color? The way you smile? Not accidental. Purposeful. Put into place by a loving and powerful God. You were fearfully and wonderfully made by the God of this Universe. And that’s the truth. Live in that.

I think about the times when God doesn’t look like we think he should, or he isn’t taking action in the way we expect and we might honestly wonder, “Is that really you, God?” or “Where are you, God?”  At times like that, I’d like to encourage you to just listen to His voice. Let his Word be your guide and take comfort in the truth that He is there. His voice of love should be louder than the other voices in your life.

So I want to encourage you that whatever season you are in, Embrace it. On those days where you are tired of practicing multiplication tables with your third grader, going to high school with some mean girls, wiping another snotty nose, attending another PTO event or listening to a business call, playing chauffeur, cook, maid and secretary, realize that God has allowed you to see special moments that no one else gets to see. What a privilege.

I want to encourage you that whatever role you are in, as wife, mom, stepmom, sister, daughter, babysitter, coworker, consultant, soccer mom, ministry leader, student council member, a caretaker to an aging parent, God has called you to it and equipped you for it.

I want to encourage you that whatever prayers you are praying, He is hearing them. The big answers to prayer may not come in the middle of the heartbreak you are in when you are praying them.

But they do come.

How to Love the Life You Live, part 1

You’ve probably heard the phrase, “Live the Life You Love.”  Maybe you’ve seen it penned on cute coffee mugs, t-shirts or magnets.  Maybe it’s lighting up your newsfeed with inspirational photos.  And maybe, dear friend, you are going through a tough season.  So when you see that sentiment, you may honestly think something along the lines of:  “Live the Life You Love….yeah…well, that’s great for a coffee mug (and maybe the person who buys it) but I’m having a hard time seeing God at work right now.  Good for the sweet momma who’s loving her life, but I’m still coming home from work each day and fighting with my husband…dealing with a troubled teenager…being bullied at school…dealing with financial troubles…haven’t been able to get pregnant…was looked over (again) for a job promotion…aching with the loneliness of an empty house…and…”…you fill in the rest.

I’d like to change that phrase up a little and today, talk about

How to Love the Life You Live.

A subtle change, but one that focuses on loving your life, despite your circumstances.

Ladies, I want to talk to you about something I think women of all ages deal with, and that is COMPARISON. And I want you to know that comparison is the enemy of contentment.  Pastor Steven Furtick, a pastor and author from North Caroline puts it this way, “The reason a lot of us deal with insecurity is because we are comparing our behind the scenes with everyone else’s highlight reel.”

Think about that for a moment.  You’ve probably seen an end of the season highlight reel at an awards banquet or sports ceremony, and it does show all kinds of smiling faces, adversity that has been overcome, and you leave with a feeling of joy and accomplishment!  BUT what those slide shows don’t show is the blood, sweat and tears. The sprained ankles, the games the team lost, the fight that broke out between the coach and the referee. The look on the kicker’s face who missed what could have been the winning point. The behind the scenes stuff.

Even Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram can give us a kind of envy for other people’s lives.  We see sweet family photos, where everyone is smiling and there’s a beautiful filter surrounding it that seems almost magical. And we get envious. What we probably don’t know is that right after that family photo, there was a meltdown from the two-year-old when he pitched such a fit that he threw himself on the ground and busted a lip, crying all the way home while the parents fought in the front seat. But we don’t see that in their sweet family photo. Right?

Now, am I saying you shouldn’t celebrate your sweet moments on social media? Absolutely not. If you enjoy doing that, like I do, then by all means, capture those moments as you celebrate your beautiful life. Social media can be a virtual scrapbook. But I don’t think you should unjustly compare yourself against others. You never really know the back story. If social media causes you to become discontent, consider taking a break from it for awhile…whether it be for a week, a month, on the weekends, or limiting your time there. You might be amazed at how much happier you are focusing on what’s going on in your world instead of imagining what it’s like for others.

Because comparison is the enemy of content.

Part 2 of this series can be found here.

#TBT: The Field Trip that Changed Me Forever

Sixth grade.  1986.  I had the coolest feathered hair, apparently still liked teddy bears, and wore long, dangly earrings.  I mean, it was 1986, who didn’t?  (If you look very closely at my sixth grade photo below, you may be able to ascertain that the earrings are actually a rotary phone and the dangly part is the receiver.  What can I say?  I was cutting edge…What’s a rotary phone, you say? Well, it was “so 1986” is all you whippersnappers need to know. CUTTING EDGE, I SAY.)  But I digress.

My family had made a big move from Moore, Oklahoma to Winter Park, Florida over Halloween of my fifth grade year.  At first, it was extremely difficult leaving the only place I really remembered as being my home, not to mention our church, my friends, my school and everything that was familiar because Oklahoma was my world.  That kind of move is extremely dramatic to a fifth grader.

Living in Florida did have its perks, I soon found out, as my family spent our first Thanksgiving in Florida having a picnic lunch on the sand of Daytona Beach.  We had the beautiful, sandy space to ourselves, watching the waves crash and seagulls flying overhead as we munched on sandwiches and chips on a blanket.  Also, now that we were official Florida residents, we qualified for a special season pass to Walt Disney World & Epcot Center…guys, it was $30 per person and we could go as often as we wanted during their three slowest months.  Um…hello perk!  (And hello 1986!) Guess how we spent our days off school??  Speaking of school, Aloma Elementary was a pretty cool school, too.  I was boy crazy for these Florida surfer types, participated in musical and theatrical productions put on by our school, joined a competitive gymnastics team at the local Y, and looked forward to the Sixth Grade field trip in January to Cape Canaveral, Florida – the Kennedy Space Center.

Teachers and students all across America had eyes on Florida that week, as this particular NASA mission had a teacher named Christa McAuliffe joining the crew.  History was being made by putting the first private citizen in space.  Teacher Christa McAuliffe trained with the astronaut crew and prepared educational lessons that would be broadcast from space.  Pretty stinkin’ cool.  Our sixth grade field trip to the Kennedy Space Center was scheduled for a day that the Challenger might launch.  We had the chance to literally be on site as the rocket blasted out of the atmosphere, rumbling the earth below us and breaking the sound barrier above us.  I said might launch because lift-off had  been scheduled since January 22, but the Challenger did not pass all necessary inspections the previous days, some of which were weather-related.  Our group of sixth graders loaded busses on January 27 and unloaded with numerous other excited school groups at the Kennedy Space Center.  We found out early into our morning that the Challenger had not been cleared to launch on January 27th,  so instead of spending much of our field trip outside as close to the launch pad as possible, we spent most of it inside the (much warmer) Kennedy Space Center, soaking up exhibitions, models and dreaming of being an astronaut (or a teacher in space) someday ourselves.  It was glorious.

So the NEXT day, on January 28th, 1986, back at Aloma Elementary, my classmates and I  learned that the Challenger HAD BEEN CLEARED TO LAUNCH, so all sixth grade classes took their lunches outside during our designated lunch hour, and pointed our eyes to the sky.  Around 11:28 am we watched what looked like a small rocket (from where we sat in the school yard playground) and a smoke plume following it, both rising higher and higher through the blue sky.  We were close enough to hear the sonic boom with our own ears as the shuttle broke the atmospheric barrier.  After that, I thought I was seeing the rocket boosters separate from the shuttle, as two separate smoke spirals made their way out of the original one.  A few short minutes later, we filed back into our classroom and the TV/VCR cart was up front.  In 1986 the classrooms were not equipped with TV’s, so seeing that cart meant we would be watching an “educational” movie on a VHS tape.  Except this time it didn’t.

Our teacher was somber.  It was at that moment that I learned from her that the two spirals I had seen were, in fact, NOT the rocket boosters separating, but the Space Shuttle Challenger exploding and debris falling back to Earth.  All seven occupants of the shuttle were declared dead.  The mood changed drastically as we spent the remainder of the day watching news report after news report of this tragedy, which occurred in the exact same spot we had been at 24 hours earlier.  We whispered disbelief to each other, wondering how this could happen, mourning Christa McAullife, who we all felt connected with, although we did not know her.  We felt personally intertwined with this tragedy, having studied the crew and the Space Program for weeks prior to our field trip with excitement building,  THEN having been on site on the day it “almost” launched and THEN watching it from the schoolyard the day it did launch and finding out it ultimately exploded in front of our eyes.  We sat with all of America in stunned silence.

I went on a field trip on January 27, 1986 that changed me forever.  What I watched happen in the sky on January 28th, 1986 was an absolutely terrible, harrowing loss for ourselves as individuals and as Americans.

But how this experience changed me may might not be what you think.

That field trip changed me forever by:

• Teaching me that Americans pull together in crisis, every time, exhibiting an indescribable united spirit; that America is beautiful.
• Introducing me to tragedy, grief and loss in a way that helped me navigate through other times in my life that I’ve had to deal with these issues on a more personal level.
• Showing me that heroes do exist, and a lot of times they look like ordinary people.
• Allowing me to still be fascinated by something amazing like space exploration, despite one gigantic and tragic public failure.
• Letting me know, that despite tragedy, taking risks can still be worth it.

As President Reagan said in his speech to the nation that night, “I want to say something to the schoolchildren of America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle’s takeoff.  I know it is hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen.  It’s all part of the process of exploration and discovery.  It’s all a part of taking a chance and expanding man’s horizon’s.  The future doesn’t belong to the faint-hearted, it belongs to the brave.  The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we’ll continue to follow them.”

So I say, whether you’re a sixth grader of a forty-something adult, let’s honor this 30th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster by encouraging each other with this mantra:

Let’s Be Brave.

 

 

 

2015: Bye Felicia! (Why I’m glad to say good bye to 2015 & hello to 2016)

2015 wasn’t my favorite.  And while nothing major or life-altering happened negatively, there was just a heaviness over a lot of the year.  Relationships were strained, finances were difficult, depression and anxiety decided to show up and stick around awhile and no matter what I tried, things were just difficult.

Now please know that I am not being a Debbie Downer, I absolutely cherish and love so many moments from 2015.  I have a sweet, amazing family.  My friendships are rich, my job is fulfilling.  I work for an incredible organization.  I was a part of many neat events.  Our home is my happy place and it’s warm and cozy.  I see blessings every day that I am thankful for and so not worthy of.  Jesus is my rock and gives me unconditional love daily.

But I think it’s OK to say it if you’ve had a tough year. 

So I say with exuberance, “Bye, Felicia!” to 2015 & “Hello!” to 2016.

I absolutely love new beginnings….I’m one of those people who is a sucker for fresh planners, empty calendars pages, new pens, and a new start.  On January 1st, 2016, I literally felt a release, as a sense of peace and expectation washed over me.  And I was so grateful.

So let’s look together, in 2016, with fresh faces and opportunities, no matter what kind of 2015 you had.  Maybe your 2015 was good.  Great, let’s celebrate that and see what 2016 has to offer.  Maybe your 2015 brought some hurts that you are reeling from.  If at all possible, let’s leave those in 2015.  2016 is new.  It’s different.  It opens new possibilities. And for me, I believe it brings restoration and rebuilding.  Maybe it does for you, too.  Who will join me in saying, “Hello, 2016-Can I give you a hug??”

Isaiah 43:19 “See, I am doing a new thing!  Now  it springs up; do you not perceive it?  I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”

Still, Still, Still: A Christmas Carol

A couple of years ago, I wrote this in response to a sermon series our pastor did on Christmas Carols and I wanted to post it today, during this Christmas Season.

Do you know the Christmas carol titled “Still, Still, Still”?

Here are a few of the words:

Still, still, still, One can hear the falling snow.

For all is hushed, The world is sleeping

Holy Star its vigil keeping

Still, still, still, One can hear the falling snow.

Still, still, still… These words do not seem to have a place in the hustle and bustle of a busy life, especially at Christmas time. Parties, presents, and projects usually have us in a frantic frenzy as we rush from one event to the next. Often, before we know it, Christmas day has come and gone. Only then do we realize that, despite our good intentions, we never experienced the peace that comes from truly relishing in God’s amazing love for us.

Isn’t it interesting that God commands us to “Be still”? Do you think it’s because He knows we sometimes have a hard time doing it on our own?

What happens when we actually take time to be still? The answer lies in Psalm 46:10…”Be still and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth”. When you are still before God, you better understand that whatever you are facing, whatever your day has been like, you can completely rest in the fact that God is God. He’s awesome and amazing and sovereign. He loves us more than we can imagine and He’s got things under control.

Spend time today purposely pursuing stillness in different moments. Perhaps you could wrap up in a blanket & head outside for a peek at the stars, wondering what that holy star looked like, the one that signaled Christ’s birth many years ago. Maybe you can take a minute to watch your young child sleep and as you gaze at that sweet face, wonder what Mary and Joseph thought of their newborn son. Open your Bible, read a favorite Scripture…then sit and wait.

Question:

What truths resonate in your soul about Christ as you take time to be still before Him?

 

Wanting to put more Christ in your Christmas this year?  Check out some of the Christmas/Advent reading plans on the YouVersion Bible App or online here:  https://www.bible.com/

 

 

Inspiration

Hi friend,

How are you doing with your 30 days of thanks?

I am about halfway through this particular gratitude journey and most days I can’t wait to pick just one thing to post about.  There have been a few days, however, where I’ve struggled a bit with even coming up with one.  I know, crazy, right?

So…I thought maybe you and I both could use some inspiration to keep us going.  I rounded up a few lovely images from Pinterest to spark the fire and fan it into a flame!

I pray that, whether you are writing something every day or not, you are pausing more often to be thankful for what God has given to you.  I promise you that contentment,  peace  and awe at what God’s done in your life will be at the end of this road.

A Gratitude Journey

I want to tell you something.  Are you ready?  (Deep Breath)

OK.  Here it goes:  I struggle with comparison.

You want to know something else?

Comparison is the biggest enemy of contentment.

Pastor and author Steven Furtick puts it this way, “The reason a lot of us deal with insecurity is because we are comparing our behind the scenes with everyone else’s highlight reel.”

In this day and age of social media, it’s pretty easy to think that everyone else throws the best birthday parties, has a family that always looks put together, has perfect hair and perfect skin and even the perfect lighting for their photo.  It’s kind of insane.

Maybe I’m the only one who struggles with this.  But maybe, just maybe, you are with me some days.

So the question remains:  What do we do about it?  How do we combat comparison?

One way is to practice gratitude.

I Thessalonians 5:16 says, “Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

I’ve noticed that when I start taking time to list what I DO have, I don’t seem to dwell so much on what I don’t have.

I’d like to ask you to join me on a gratitude journey.  Would you?

For the next 30 days, starting Monday, October 27th for me, (which incidentally brings us right up to the week of Thanksgiving, an entire holiday devoted to gratitude), I will be posting at least one thing a day that I am grateful for.  Big or little, it doesn’t matter.  Just one thing.

Would you do that with me?  Who’s in?  Let’s use the hashtag #30daysofthanks once we’ve posted something – the social media platform you choose is up to you.  Or pen and journal works just fine also.  Using the hashtag #30daysofthanks on social media will simply allow us to glimpse a small community of gratitude seekers.  And that hashtag is likely already being used, but since I’m not comparing myself to whoever thought of it first, I think it’s OK to jump in on that party :).  (See what I did there?!)  I would just love to be able to see what others are taking the time to be grateful for.  And I bet gratitude grows.  What do you think?

Comment on this post if you’ll be joining this gratitude journey.

Let’s give thanks together! #30DaysofThanks

Lessons from a Loser’s Wife

My husband is a big loser.

And he’s OK with me saying that.

You see, he lost 222 pounds in 8 months as a contestant on the 2013-2014 season of the TV show The Biggest Loser. Umm…hello? That’s about as stinkin’ incredible as you can get. Words can not express how proud I am of him, the work that he did, and the way he changed our family’s legacy. It’s truly amazing and I continue to be blown away.

Check out his first day on the ranch compared with several weeks into the show:

And then at the end of the show:

Crazy, right?? You can read more about my man and stay up to date on his adventures here: http://1stronger.com or here http://davidbrowninspires.com

While David did not win the show, (he did place as the runner-up!), he and our family have won in so many other ways. Since the show’s completion five months ago, people often ask what changes we have made at home in order to continue a healthy lifestyle. Please note: I do not claim to be a nutritionist, nurse or physical trainer. I am simply a wife and mom (who also works outside of the home) and wants my family to be and stay healthy. You may be a lot like me.

Here are a few simple Lessons from a Loser’s Wife:

1.) Increase Healthy Options – I am the main grocery shopper, meal planner and cook in our home. That means that I have a large amount of influence over what comes in our house and onto the table. There are a lot of questions we get, like: Do you eat clean? Paleo? Low carb? South Beach? Organic only? Calorie restrictive? The answer is…sometimes, yes. 🙂 But overall, my rule of thumb is to simply increase healthy options in the home.

As stated, I am not a nutritionist, but I do know some basics that I try to follow, such as making available a variety of lean proteins, whole grains, fruits and veggies. I do cook dinner most nights at home so that means we’re not surprised by how something is prepared or what has been added to it. There’s a lot more healthy snack options in our fridge or pantry like fruit, veggies, greek yogurt and whole grain crackers than processed, sugary snacks. So guess what? If that’s what’s on hand or what’s being offered, that’s what we eat. Plain and simple. We are still particular about taste, so experimenting with seasonings and oils has been fun. There are resources right at the end of your computer keyboard or in your circle of friends for whatever meal plan you prefer.

Does it get old? Sometimes, sure it does. But we keep at it. Consistency is key. We do not strive for perfection, but we do strive for progress. While David was at the Biggest Loser ranch for 4 months, I changed the way I was eating at home. I had not yet added consistent work-outs, but I saw a positive difference in my body shape and it was all due to changing eating habits.

2.) Preparation The Boy Scout motto of “Always Be Prepared” comes into play strongly when you want your family to have healthy options. They call it “fast food” for a reason, right? It’s easy to grab some when you don’t have a plan. However, preparation will increase your success with healthy eating. For us that often means preparing food early in the week and then packaging it into portion-size containers for use throughout the week. I work outside of the home, but my husband works from home. It’s important to us both that he have healthy options during the day as well. Because we are an on-the-go family, that means I sometimes pay more for prepackaged items like salads and apple slices if we’re going to have a super busy week. I’m OK with that, largely because salads and fruit do not go bad in our house. And that makes me happy. Other weeks I am able to spend more time on food prep (make our own pre-portioned salads and snacks) and spend less money for convenience. Having grab and go items that are healthy portions and foods has been vital.

3.) Tracking Tracking calories going into your body as well as calories burned through activity is probably the NUMBER ONE thing that David recommends to people. There are a ton of apps and/or devices (Lose It, My Fitness Pal, FitBit, Body Media, etc) to help with this. Some of them are free! It does take a little bit of work on your end to track your intake of calories, but it truly opens your eyes to everything you are putting in your mouth. It will then, generally, track your calories burned through activity. When you are consistently burning more calories than you are taking in, you will be losing weight. It really helps to see it through a tracking system or device.

4.) Stay Hydrated Getting in the recommended 64 ounces of water per day is REALLY important. Carry around a water bottle and refill often. Drop in some zero calorie flavored beverage mix or add fruit to your water if you’d like to give it some flavor.

5.) Accountability Listen, we need accountability to accomplish ANY of our goals, including becoming more healthy. This can look like a lot of different things, such as: a gym partner, running buddy, a personal trainer or a friend you check in with about your goals. You are more likely to work out if you have someone else meeting you there. You are more likely to stay on target with healthy eating if you are meeting with an accountability partner at the end of the week. There is strength in doing this TOGETHER.

6.) Rewards This is the fun part. When you have seen progress, take a minute to reward yourself. Maybe it’s booking a massage after meeting a weight loss goal, buying a new pair of jeans when your old ones are becoming baggy, or just finding something yummy at the health food store on your way home from a work-out. Working hard = results and you should be proud of yourself!

Now it’s YOUR turn…what tips can you share that work for keeping your family healthy?

P.S. Since you read all the way through this post, I’ll tell you a secret: If you sign up for updates at http://davidbrowninspires.com, you receive David’s *secret* shopping list from the Biggest Loser. What are you waiting for? Go do it now!

My Secret About Running

I hate it. There I said it.

I have friends who are graceful runners, who are fast runners, who enjoy running and beat records often. I am glad for them…but that is not me.

I started running with a friend of mine a few years ago and we used the Couch to 5K app. It’s interval training, so you run for a certain amount of minutes, walk for a certain amount of minutes and then repeat. Your training is about twenty to forty minutes, 3 times a week. Each week your running time increases a little bit more over your walking time. Even though this is a good and fairly easy way to start, neither one of us loved it.

But we did it anyway.

Here’s some things I learned about running:

* Accountability got me out there. I’m certain that had my friend not been waiting for me at our designated time and place, I would have not stayed with it. A few weeks in, we both paid for and signed up for a race. That definitely gave us motivation to continue with our training.

* Running is a discipline for me. When you discipline yourself to do something over a period of time, you see results. I remember different times during our training where we would come in from a run and realize it was easier than we expected AND we weren’t as breathless as we had been in previous runs. Another day I happened to notice some muscle definition in my legs that hadn’t been there before. Seeing results helped get me back out there the next time.

* Running is cheap. You don’t have to have a gym membership. You don’t need to pay a trainer. You simply lace up some tennis shoes and hit the pavement. So that financial excuse? It doesn’t work here.

* Mind over matter really is a thing. One running quote I found on Pinterest says “Your body can stand almost anything. It’s your mind you have to convince.” Seriously. Sometimes when I was on the “run” part of our run/walk training, I would change the words to Dory’s song (from Finding Nemo) to “Just Keep Running. Just Keep Running. Just Keep Running, Running, Running.” Or I would tell myself I was going to run for a full song or two full songs, etc. And when my friend was running with me, we could encourage each other. There were days her encouragement got me a lot further down the road than I felt like going. You can do more than you think you can.

*I’m not a pretty runner. And that’s OK. I’ve seen posts on facebook from my running friends that say things like, “Suzy ran 4.5 miles and felt great.” Believe me, I’ve wanted to create a running app where you can post things more like, “Melissa ran 2.2 miles, her face was bright red, her heart was pounding out of her chest and she felt like she was going to die, but she did it.” Do you hear the power in those last four words?

We all know the benefits of running, such as: increased energy, weight loss, better cardiovascular health, muscle definition and strength, increased energy and stamina, and so much more.

So now that you’ve learned my secret about running, here’s another one: I’ve taken a couple of months off and need to get back out there.

Who’s with me? Comment on this post if you’re running, signed up for a race, or going to start running. Let me know what you’ve learned from running. I’d love to know we are in this together.

Let’s be able to end our sentences with “But she did it!”

Always Remember

This girl is moving out in six days.

Crazy, huh?

Maybe, just maybe….this is a more current picture.

But still.

It has been a sweet blessing to have her live at home during her first year post-high school. Truly.

I am glad she will be living close by. And I’m glad she gets to live with a friend and have that experience as well.

It is just a little crazy how time flies.

“If ever there’s a tomorrow when we’re not together, there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” –Christopher Robin to Winnie the Pooh

Christopher Robin had some great advice to his friend, Winnie the Pooh. I want Jordan to always remember those things he spoke of. There are a few more things, however, that I’d also like this amazing girl to always remember.

Jordan,

Always remember that you are “fearfully & wonderfully made” – God uniquely crafted only one of you. The special talents, gifts, abilities and personality traits you possess are from Him. Use them as a gift to God, yourself & others.

Always remember that you can do more than you think. Don’t give up too early. Push yourself & you’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish.

Always remember that God is good. Life can be hard, but God is good. Seek Him and He will show you His goodness.

Always remember that your smile goes a long way. Your caring spirit and beautiful smile brightens others on a daily basis.

Always remember that serving others is a perspective-changer. Not only does God use you to help others and teach you about yourself, but serving others reminds you of all that you have to be thankful for.

Always remember that you are worth it. You deserve someone who opens doors for you, laughs at your jokes, lifts you up, pays for your dinner, respects your boundaries and loves your God. You are absolutely worth it.

Always remember that there’s a home that is full of people that love you, 100%, unconditionally. Always. We’re here to cry with you over heartache, rejoice with you over victories and listen to you sort things out. We love to act silly with you, pray with you, meet your friends, throw a football around in the front yard, hear what God’s doing in your life, play board games and just hang out. We are proud of you, always.

Always remember.