Living + Learning in 2010.

my family. christmas 2010.

Lessons Learned in 2010

I decided I would again keep a list of life lessons I learned throughout the year by personal experience or the observation of others. I had no idea I would learn so many things. :) Some are funny… some are serious. It ‘s always best to learn from others so that you don’t have to learn the hard way. This is worth reading… I hope you can grab a couple of them to take with you and apply to your life. I have by no means mastered them… still on the life-long journey.

1) Tell your family how much you love them every night before bed and every morning when they leave… live is fragile.

2) Don’t give up… your answer could come tomorrow.

3) Just okay is not enough.

4) There is continual conflict between our human tendency to remain small and God’s desire to make us great.

5) God is more than enough… we must stop filling our lives with so many cheap substitutes.

6) ‘Bored’ is not a word in my vocabulary. :)

7) January equals lots of quality family time at home.

8) “The plain things are the main things.”

9) “Find out who God has created you to be, and be that person.”

10) Remember where you have come from or you will eventually look in the mirror and not recognize the person you have become.

11) Grab the hands of a few people, and take them on the journey with you.

12) “God has created us all so differently… if we were all the same, we’d all lose.”

13) Doing a bunch of nothings with someone is better than doing a bunch of somethings with no one.

14) Parents can train and equip you to fly then push you out of the nest, but God is the wind beneath your wings that makes you soar.

15) It’s so like God to make something out of nothing.

16) You don’t have to try to make everything happen on your own… there are people standing by… willing and ready to help you.

17) Invest in a good mattress and pillows.

18) Sometimes you must do the things you don’t want to do in order to do he things you want to do.

19) When you have hundreds of conversations for five hours straight, you will get a sore throat. :)

20) People are watching you… live a life worth following.

21) When you help others fulfill their dreams, you may actually find yourself fulfilling yours.

22) Thinking about people changes nothing but praying for them could change their life.

23) What seems to be the perfect timing for you may not be the perfect timing for someone else.

24) You must accept the fact that God might have a different plan than yours.

25) If you just roll out of bed and go to the gym as you are, you will see people you know. :)

26) Don’t overlook or push past the seasons of learning or growing or you won’t be prepared for the next season of your life.

27) For those who are waiting… time cannot pass by soon enough… for those living… there’s not enough time.

28) If you don’t think your life is exciting… do something exciting… simple as that.

29) Distance makes the heart grow fonder.

30) Thank God daily for specific blessings in your life, or you may take them for granted and feel like you deserve more.

31) There are people counting on your prayers.

32) It’s even more difficult to be a leader of leaders.

33) Don’t check things off of your “to do” list until you actually do them. :)

34) If you don’t want to/need to spend money, don’t go shopping. :)

35) The older you get, the less concerned you become with others’ opinions of you.

36) When you are full of God, you will not feel empty inside.

37) Never get out of the practice of leading people to Jesus.

38) Sometimes you do things just because God tells you to, then the passion for it follows your obedience.

39) Always take a watch and flashlight to camp.

40) Starting your day by thanking God for specific blessings you are thankful for will change the attitude of your day.

41) When you walk/run in cool weather, always wear something to cover your ears. :)

42) When you are doing a photo shoot- take your camera with you… it helps. :)

43) As much as you wish for certain things to change in your life- the life you are living may just be the best thing that ever happened to you.

44) We usually don’t recognize the miracle while we are living it.

45) God is bigger than awkward conversations and miscommunications.

46) You are only one part of the equation.

47) Take control of our culture of technology before it takes control of you.

48) Being busy is overrated.

49) No talent is greater than the favor of God.

50) Under promise and over produce.

51) Don’t answer phone calls from unknown or withheld numbers. :)

52) Don’t let one moment of failure keep you from moving forward- let it propel you.

53) Some things you just have to do afraid.

54) We become spiritually fat unless we are living out our faith and bringing people to Jesus.

55) I’m convinced that if we redirected the energy that we use to worry and think about ourselves… we could discover cures, rescue people, bring the lost to Jesus, change the world… just maybe.

56) Birthdays are very special and should be celebrated well.

57) Family is one of the most precious gifts that God gives us. Treat them as such.

58) No matter what problem you are facing, someone is facing a greater problem than you are.

59) Your hard drive will crash- it’s not a matter of if but when.

60) A sign of growth and maturity is when you respond better to the same challenge a year later.

61) We live in a culture that has never learned to wait.

62) In the moment when you feel like God has forgotten about you, He is really showing you how much He loves you by not answering your every prayer or desires with a yes.

63) Enjoy your beauty, because you will get old- woman said to me in the Barnes+Noble parking lot as she touched her wrinkles.

64) There are just some people in life that you connect with and feel like you have known your whole life.

65) I am a much more creative person because of my relationship with a creative God.

66) If you spend too much time on the urgent things, you won’t have time for the important things.

67) God is at work so far ahead of us, and when you get there, you realize what He has been setting you up for all along… and it gives you faith to keep walking into the unknown because you know that He is already there.

68) “If you’re going to risk and maybe fail, fail at something that matters. Fail gloriously so that even in failure lives change.”

69) We trust God to the extent that we know God.

70) It’s impossible to be a breath of fresh air to others when you are barely breathing.

71) God still speaks through dreams.

72) Sometimes leadership is the loneliest place.

73) God never forgets about what He has placed in your heart.

74) God’s heart is missions- from the hurting person right in front of you to the other side of the world.

75) Satan will do anything to make you doubt what God has told you, but God does not contradict His word.

76) Amazing opportunities come to those who are prepared.

77) Simplify. Simplify. Simplify.

78) God tells you what you need to know when you need to know.

79) Ignoring a problem doesn’t make it disappear but usually makes it grow.

80) God is sovereign in His timing.

81) “God does not reveal Himself as limitless to limit us.”

82) “When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.”

83) When you slip and fall on black ice, it really, really hurts.

84) There is no separation between secular and sacred. When working for the Lord- the secular becomes sacred.

85) The way you spend your time is a reflection of what is important to you.

86) A whole lot of significant things can happen in the course of one year.

87) Don’t be intimidated by people, because you will soon realize that they are just as human as you.

88) You may have to literally bite your tongue because you love someone more than you love your opinions.

89) It’s possible to be full of joy in the worst of circumstances.

90) With age comes responsibility, and it’s just the beginning…

91) Stop and “smell the poinsettias” at Christmastime. :)

92) Celebrate even the smallest of victories rather than focusing on the defeats.

93) Most things can wait.

94) A routine life can be detrimental, because one becomes comfortable when they are and more unwilling to take risks for the Lord.

95) With God, there are no dead ends… there is always a mountain to climb or a bridge to be crossed.

96) Sleep heals and restores the body and is thus very necessary.

97) When we see the reality of all the obstacles, it makes God look even greater when He comes through.

98) Life requires initiative.

99) Fun is an attitude- not an activity.

100) God is not confined to our realm of possible.

You can click here to view the lessons I learned in 2009… I think they are all different.

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=227814161332

Hope 2011 is your most blessed year yet!

Happy New Year! :)

Heather