What 33 years of life has taught me...

33 

"Every day of my life was recorded in your book.

Every moment laid out before a single day passed.

How precious are your thoughts about me O God."

Psalm 139:16b-17a

 

 

What 33 years of life has taught me...

1. Have faith and trust in God with all that you are.
    
2. Like it or not...God is in control. The more you fight it the more miserable your life will be.
 
3. Getting up early is no fun...until you do and you realize that beautiful time that awaits you every morning, before the world wakes, and the craziness of the day starts. I have experienced such wonderful clarity of my day and God's plan for my life in the quiet of these mornings.
4. Sometimes when you become what you want to be when you grow up...it is not the wonderful dream that you imagine. Sometimes it is very hard. And sometimes...it is more amazing and beautiful and rewarding than you could ever imagine.
5. Have hope...always.
6. Find your joy.
7. Embrace your life and find the blessings in your circumstances.
8. Children are smarter than adults.
9. Love and marriage isn't about living happily ever after. It is about finding the balance, forgiving often, understanding that you won't always understand each other BUT you can still support each other through the differences.
10. There is a handbook. It is called "The Bible." I didn't understand that until I read it. 
11. Be present.
     
12. Breathe.
     
13. Eat food that is alive, beautiful, full of color, and that nourishes your body.
     
14. Take care of the planet and leave it better then it was when you came into it.
15. Take a lot of pictures to see all of the beauty that surrounds you.
16. Give.
17. Love.
18. Never stop educating yourself and share what you know to help others.
19. Be an example.
20. Dance.
21. Sing...LOUD :)
22. Simplify your life down to what makes you happy, what brings you beauty, and what has purpose. Eliminate the clutter and chaos in your life.
23. Sometimes you just have to have a good cry.
24. Trust.
25. Everything negative that I felt about myself in high school was not true.
26. I am VERY blessed.
27. Your health IS your wealth and you have more control over it then you could ever imagine. Do your homework.
28. Dance in the rain.
29. Laugh...hysterically...on a daily basis.
30. The more in tune with your body you are the more you will know what it needs.
31. Life is a gift and not one breath is promised to us.
32. Losing a child is the most excruciating pain that I have ever felt in my life. At the same time, I have never felt more connected and surrounded by God's penetrating care then I have walking through this journey.
33. Life has different seasons.Some are confusing and frustrating. Some are amazing and full of promise. Some you find yourself in darker places then you even knew existed. Every season given to us is a gift and part of our journey. Embrace every moment because it is yours. No one else gets to experience our journey but you. Don't miss the joy of the ride while watching others whizzing by. Hang on tight and enjoy the ride because some day it will all be over. Give yourself something amazing to look back on.

                                                                                               -Kristin