Thursday 13: Lessons Learned

 Lessons I've Learned (So Far) This Year

1. Rejoicing in our tribulations - I used to be bothered when I would hear Christians say to "praise Him" even in times of trouble. I would think, "That's easy for you to say, isn't it?" But, I didn't get it until recently. Who knows if those people knew why they were saying it either. But, it finally clicked one day during a sermon that we're not "praising Him" for making us suffer but rejoicing in the fact that our pain and suffering on earth is only miniscule compared to an eternity separated from God. Jesus' death on the cross saved us from the worst of that and that is cause for praise!
2. Forgiving the forgiven - It is difficult to forgive someone who has wronged us. Especially when we feel justified for feeling that way. Even after several years, God reminded me that I need to forgive because He forgave me! It doesn't matter if I'm right and they're wrong or even if they don't have a repentant heart. It's between them and God and will answer to Him one day. Forgiveness is freedom.
3. Patience - I've been learning the great lesson of patience in various aspects of my life. First, in being diagnosed and dealing with a chronic illness. Second, in figuring out what I'm supposed to be doing as far as a career path. Lastly, finding a job to help support our small family. All three have been very trying and sometimes exhausting. But, God has given me the gift of perspective to help me deal with all three and quietly learn how to be content with where I am, where I'm going, and that He is with me along the way.
4. Budgeting is a necessity - Alan and I have been married 2 years almost and we've never officially sat down and planned a budget! We finally got serious about it recently and since we've been more money-minded, we've managed to only spend $5.39 total just this week! I'd say that's a pretty good accomplishment.
5. Cooking is fun and not as hard as I thought - Since being diagnosed with Crohn's, I've been cooking a lot more because it's a lot less hassle trying to accommodate my dietary needs than going out to eat. I've been having a lot of fun looking up new recipes and making my own substitutions along the way. It also saves us money, which is an added bonus!
6. Google Reader is my new best friend - I used to bookmark any interesting blogs I came across and basically forgot about them after that. It was a pain trying to remember which site I liked and where it was located and that I had saved it in my bookmarks. I was too lazy to figure out what Google Reader was had no idea Google Reader existed. Since discovering it, it has made my journaling a lot more successful because I'm able to view all my favorite blogs and be inspired by the wonderful content you all write!
7. Our cats shed a lot - We've always had carpeting in our previous living situations and so I guess I was never really aware how much cat hair 3 cats can shed. I mean, I knew it was time to vacuum when the normally beige-colored carpet would turn grey. I've come to realize how much hair had to be on that carpet for it to look like that now that we've been living in a place with 100% hardwood floors. It takes about a week for me to be grossed out at the cat hair tumbleweeds and rampant cat litter that seems to crop up over night. We even purchased 2 microfiber, washable sweeper cloths to sweep the floors and we could probably manage to have at least one more.
8. Bedroom dressers are essential - We finally bought some grown up furniture to put in our bedroom to replace my old, decrepit plastic dressers from college and what a difference it makes! I actually put my clothes away now! No more worrying about caved in, hard to open and close, see through, "wow you own a lot of underwear" drawers!
9. I have a lot of weird dreams - My husband always asks me how I slept last night and it seems more often than not my response is "I had a weird dream." This perhaps seems unusual to him because he rarely remembers having any dreams, but as far as I can remember I always dream. In fact, it is "unusual" for me not to dream. That usually means I'm exhausted. Alan thinks I'm somewhat psychic with dreams because I had a dream about a tsunami 2 nights before the South East Asian tsunami hit. I've had similar experiences happen before that, but now I can't remember them.
10. I may be "ready" to have children - That's actually the first time I've really said that to anyone but myself and my husband. Now, I don't mean, I hope to pop out a baby within the next year or that I know exactly what to expect or what I'm doing when it comes to babies. It couldn't be more the opposite on the latter half of that statement. What I mean is, we were to reach a stable place with our finances and I got the "all clear!" from my GI doc about my Crohn's being in remission, I would say I'd want to start thinking about having children. Maybe that doesn't sound like the biggest step once I break it down, but for me, it is. Last year I was determined I would be in the midst of getting my Mental Health Counseling Master's and wouldn't be ready for children until graduation. Things do change in a year.
11. We really need to start an exercise routine - Alan and I have been wanting to do the couch-to-5k plan for a while now, but we want to get some proper shoes for it and we just haven't been in the financial state to spend excess money on new shoes. I'm still not convinced I'll be able to do it, but running would be a good exercise for me to strengthen my bones and avoid the osteoporosis that runs in my family and is now more of a worry that I've been on steroids twice this year. We'll get there, but it's sad when a full day of cleaning causes me to wake up the next morning with sore muscles. Obviously I'm not involved in enough physical activity and/or cleaning! 
12. Astronomy is fascinating - I've had a lot more time on my hands lately since I'm not in school and still trying to find a job, so I've been reading up on different areas of interests. Astronomy is one I've recently been intrigued with. There was a solar flare recently that was said could potentially cause the aurora borealis to be seen in areas such as the northern Midwest. It was too bright where we were to see anything, but tonight the Swift-Tuttle meteor shower is supposed to be at its peak and can be seen even from bright areas! Hope to see something spectacular tonight.
13. I couldn't ask for a better man to be my husband - I know this last one sounds mushy, but really. Our 2 year anniversary is coming up soon and we've had to endure a lot of stressful things since getting married - a lot that was out of our control. Despite my emotional ups and downs, he's always been extremely supportive and encouraging the whole way. We've really learned a lot from each other and I think that is so important for us to grow in our marriage together. I finally feel like we've managed to reach the upside of the roller coaster and am excited to see what happens in the next two years!

I wanted to share something really quick with you.

The gals over at In(Courage) are celebrating the blog's birthday and doing "30 days of Giveaways" as a countdown to National Day of Encouragement on September 12th. This blog truly has inspired and encouraged me since finding it and I just wanted to share the giving along with you! Click the button below to find out more and while you're there browse through the blog. It has been an unexpected gift for me and I hope it will be for many of you women (and men!) who are looking for some extra encouragement!