What I Now Know

I celebrated my birthday over the weekend. We didn't do anything major, but I got to stay in bed until 8:00, I was serenaded by my two favorite people, OU won, and I had sushi for dinner with friends. In my book, that's pretty spectacular. As usually happens, birthdays make you think. There's a saying that wisdom comes with age. But wisdom doesn't just "come." It's not a given. It doesn't just happen as your age increases. If you've ever met a 40-something who still acts like a 17-year-old, you know exactly what I mean. To get wiser, you have to work at it. You have to seek, reflect and learn from the past - whether mistakes, hurts, joys or triumphs.

Wisdom has taught me a few things, and my prayer today is the same as every day - that Brynna and other girls will learn from where I've been so their list doesn't repeat mine but builds on it. I pray she knows because I now know...

I really am too good for that boy. People weren't just saying that. 
I am worth more than I accepted.
When we accept less, we confuse what we get with what we deserve.
Receiving less than I deserve says more about the other person than it does about me.
Regardless of how I'm treated by another, my worth does not change. God made me. I'm His. 

No one died the day I got a B. (Or later when I got a C.)
Not one person in one interview has ever asked what grade I got in 9th grade Geometry.
Every person in every interview has asked what kind of character I have.
Who I am is more important and will last longer than what I do.

People are disrespected when I'm late. 
The end result isn't a success if getting there wasn't.

Being willing to live in pain does not make you strong.
Keeping the secret did more damage than the abuse.
Living with the junk is way harder than working through it.
Counseling is only a bad word if you're too prideful to ask for help.

Common sense is not common.
Children will follow what you do - not what you say.

It's never wrong to tell the truth.
But if you're right and say it in the wrong way, you're wrong.

Freedom isn't free - not on battlefields nor in hearts.

Will you take one more minute with me? Will you go back and read that list aloud to yourself? Your worth does not change. Who you are is more important than what you do. It's never wrong to tell the truth.

Your turn. Leave a comment. What do you know now?