Some City Talk and Some Lessons Learned

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Things I learned this season:

1. City skylines are among one of my favorite things in the world. It never got old driving into downtown. The Houston skyline is definitely one of my favorites. Breathtaking, soothing, and instantly therapeutic to me. No matter where God leads me and my family, I’ll always be a city-girl at heart, and I love that.

2. Seasons always change no matter what. The good, the bad, the boring, the exciting…. Just give it time. Things will shift, life will settle into a new season, and you will be adding up your “lessons learned” thanking God for bringing you out alive.

3. Sometimes the grass is greener on the other side. Don’t be such a pessimist.

4. Some people are just impossible to please. Do your best, and be confident in who you are, and allow God to be the one to promote you through every season of your life. Don’t try to move the pieces around yourself. He specializes in details.

5. Driving “across town” in Houston is VERY different than driving across town in Centralia. Like over an hour different.

6. The bigger the grocery store, the higher the grocery bill. Me and the giant HEB Central Market had such an intense love/hate relationship. Even with all of it’s fun gourmet selections, organic snacks and ingredients and ready-made delicious meals, I had to draw some severe boundaries if I wanted to continue partaking in the divine selection. Mr. Budget, meet Miss Coupons and you both say hello to Mr. very strict grocery list.

7. I am capable of forming healthy habits in my life that are way outside of my personality.

8. Sonic drive-in definitely puts crack in their raspberry tea. Pretty sure I’ve had one a day for the past several months of my life.

9. I miss celebrating fall. I LOVE fall. It’s easier to celebrate the seasons when there are actually seasons.

10. My husband is an introvert. I am an extrovert. This was a huge thing for us to figure out! We discovered this through the help of our counselor. Side note: I don’t care how “amazing” or “awesome” (or any other trendy adjective) you think you marriage is, all marriages (and/or people) could benefit greatly from a counselor. Me and Seth have both counseled teenagers and even a few couples here and there through our years in ministry, and we were shocked to find out how little we really knew about the ins and outs of each others personalities. Possibly the biggest discovery that opened our eyes and instantly increased the level of grace given to each other, was the fact that Seth is a hardcore introvert who is really good and playing an extrovert when needed, and I am a hardcore extrovert, who tends to act like an introvert when around new people or large groups. Basically it all means we are both kinda screwed up. (accepting this fact about yourself will be one of the most freeing moments of your life) An introvert/extrovert doesn’t mean that you are just shy/outgoing. An introvert can be a great people person, like Seth. If you are an introvert it simply means that you are recharged, body, mind and spirit, by spending time alone. If you are an extrovert, it means that you recharge by being around people. Sounds like a simple discovery, but after some research and learning what it can do to an introvert to be around large crowds all day everyday, and vice versa, things really started to make sense to us, and we were able to arrange our life accordingly. This is one concept on personality types that doesn’t get to deep into all the psycho-babble. It is simple to figure our which one you are, and it was an easy adjustment for us… just one we were totally oblivious to.

11. I love knowing that the beach is there, but sure didn’t go as much as I would have thought. Moral of the story: I think I care about my skin a lot more than I used to. (in case you don't know me, I am a red-headed freckled girl who does not have sun-friendly skin)

12. Celebrate the good stuff. All of it. Even if there will be bad stuff to follow. Celebrate God’s goodness. God receives glory from out outward celebrations of Him. He inhabits our praises and so where there is praise (or celebration of Him) He dwells! So why would we want to push his presence out of our life by refusing to dwell on the small victories?