Days of Old

I am in the middle of planning my 10 year high school reunion. I thought that it would be marvelous to be class president and have this responsibility one day - don't ask me what I think now :). Seriously, planning this reunion has not been so bad and I have had wonderful help from a fellow classmate!

Since planning has commenced, I have found myself shuffling through old year books and going through and cleaning out things that I have kept for years. I even read through my senior scrapbook a few months ago. Wow...things have CHANGED!

I have been very reminiscent lately. I am trapped in a state of nostalgia that I just can't shake. I find myself almost longing for those simple days to return. I never knew how good I had it. Don't get me wrong - I am so thankful for the life that I have now, but life was definitely less stressful 10 years ago.

So, let's take a stroll back to 1999. 10 years ago I was...

• Reeling after turning 18 just 3 weeks earlier. I was an official adult...Mom and Dad no longer had any say in what my life would look like - yeah right!
• Scrambling to get the pictures in for the senior slide show.
• In a horrible relationship.
• Eating less than 1000 calories a day and watching my hair fall out.
• Preparing for my senior presentation.
• Preparing for the end of the year finals.
• Preparing for graduation and my speech that I was to deliver.
• Anxious about what would lie ahead of me.
• Completely miserable to be around because I did not handle life change very well.
• So oblivious that the world was not revolving around me.

Now, 10 years older and hopefully a little bit wiser, I would give myself the following advice:

• Quit worrying about your weight and your body. It defines way too much of you and leads you down destructive paths.
• Don't go to college with a boyfriend.
• Don't try to find your husband while you are in college - enjoy every "single"minute of it!
• Understand that you are about to enter into the most magical 4 years of your life - you are not living at home, you are getting a great education and you are paying for NOTHING!
• Spend less time worrying about pleasing others and truly seek what the Lord has in store for you.
• Obey, obey, obey the first time when you finally realize what it is that God wants you to do, ( I still have to work on this one!).
• Treasure your family.
• Don't let everyone else define you - believe in yourself and the person God so brilliantly created.

I could go on and on. I just wish that I could have by-passed some of the hardest lessons that I had to learn, but I would not be the person that I am today. I am so thankful that God loves me just as much now as He did then. He knew what road I would choose the day that I walked across the stage at my high school graduation. He knew all of my successes, mistakes, heartbreaks and failures - and He loved me anyway. I truly wish that I had grasped that concept then like I do now - I probably would have made some different choices. I only hope that I continue to grow in the knowledge of His love. How comforting it is to see where He has brought me. As I look forward through the lens of my past I am quite encouraged as I wait on what God has for me.