In the last 20 years...

Well yesterday was my 20th Birthday... that's right... I'm leaving my teen years & heading onward to "adult" life. When I was younger I used to feel like 20 was so old! To be honest I still feel like 20 is really old! What is there to look forward to in adult life?... bills, responsibilities, real jobs, eating what's good for you instead of what taste good, & doing what you have to do instead of what you want to do. Anyway, I would like to share what I've learned in the last 20 years of my life...


1.) I have learned what a blessing it is to have Grandparents that support me in everything that I do! Yesterday morning my Grandpa called & sang happy birthday to me like he has all my life. He told me, "baby I have all the faith in the world in you!"  Even at 20, hearing him say those words makes me feel like I can accomplish anything. 


2.) I have learned that no matter what happens in this life I have a family that is always in my corner, always pushing me to be better, & always there to wipe the blood of my face when I get knocked down.


3.) I have learned that friends fade in & out of your life for different reasons, but God uses each friend to teach a new lesson about Him.


4.) I have learned that true love is not a giddy feeling, although it may be present at times, but rather it is being willing to stand beside the person you are with & walk through whatever life throws at both of you, while at all times keeping Heaven as your first & final goal.


5.) I have learned that the greatest teaching I will ever give in Children's Ministry will be how I live my life. "Shake & shine"


6.) When I was a little girl one of my Grammy's friends had built me a huge rocking horse. Being the little short thing that I am, my three year old self had a hard time climbing on it. Everyday my Daddy would make me try to get on the horse myself until there came a day when I could finally do it. He would always say, "kk don't quit!" Now as a grown woman (ahhh it's crazy to say that), I have an inability to quit at things I start.


7.) Growing up my Grammy always told me "smile at people. It will make them wonder what you are up to." I watched her do ministry for 16 years through her beautiful smile. Sometimes smiling through the pain is not only ministry but also healing all in it's own.


8.) I have learned that the most important thing I could ever do in my life is touch the life of a child.


9.) Through watching my Mom fight to give her 2 children everything they need I have learned true sacrifice. She has always put our well-being above her own.


10.) I have learned that it doesn't matter what people think about you. People can say things about me that are untrue & hurt my reputation, but I am the only one who will stand before the Lord & answer for my own life. In all reality the only opinion that will ever matter when it comes to my character is the One who created my inmost being.


11.) I have learned that love can be both the most painful & most rewarding emotion humans ever experience. 


12.) I have learned the truth of Jeremiah 29:11, as I have watched many times as events have had to happen in a specific order, place, & time to later bring about God's bigger purpose.


13.) I have learned that I truly can get through absolutely anything life throws at me if I am willing to just give up & allow my Lord to carry my burdens for me.


14.) I have learned that it is completely true that everything worth having is worth fighting for. 


15.) I have learned that prayer is for me.... He knows all of my words before one of them is on my tongue.


16.) I have learned that sin didn't kill Jesus... I did... I put him on a cross. I put the nails through his hands & feet & a spear through his side so that I could live as I please. Through this I have developed a new understanding of what He did for me on a personal level.


17.) I have learned the true value of hard work, be it in a job, in ministry, in the classroom, or in relationships.


18.) I have learned that in life rarely will I choose my circumstance. Things will happen that are completely unfair & I will have no control whatsoever over such events. BUT I can choose my attitude. I can choose whether people see God's glory or see my humanness through the pain.


19.) I have learned that the majority of the things in life I thought were important, in reality are of no importance whatsoever. In the end it will be the relationships that matter... my family, curtis, my friends, & my Contact kids, for these relationships are eternal!


20.) I have learned that in this life I should only have one goal.... to get to Heaven & take as many people with me as I possibly can. If I gain the whole world & yet forfeit my soul whatever time I was alloted on this earth is just a waste. 


All that being said... here's to another year... another year of laughing until your body aches, crying until there are no tears left, loving until it hurts, doing God's work in every way, & discovering what life is all about.


Lord for as long as you let this body breath help me to be about real life! Help me to be about eternal, rather then temporary, help me to be about others rather then self, help me to always look first to the cross, & most of all help me to give you the glory & the praise every day, in every circumstance, forever & ever. This is my prayer!
In Jesus Name,
Amen