Year in Review

I realize I haven't blogged in a while, admittedly, I'd lost the fire. But with Christmas over and a brand new year here, I feel a little revamped and ready to go! I thought I'd start with a typical Year in Review type post...

2013 was by far the hardest year of my life, yet the most rewarding. A lot of things changed for me this year; good and bad.

Losing my grandfather in May was really tough on my family and I. It's been almost 8 months now, and sometimes it feels like a fresh wound, but others it feels like a dream I had a really long time ago. I'm just thankful God blessed me and my fam with a huge support team. We could never thank our church for the support they showed us during that time.

On January 7, 2013 I began my first full time job. On December 7, 2013 I left that job. I had mixed feelings about leaving and  because I hadn't even been there a year I was worried it would make me look like a job hopper, but after weighing the pros and cons of leaving or staying, I decided to take the risk. I have no doubt I made the right choice. I love my new job.

Those are just 2 major changes in my life from this past year, the rest I'd like to keep close to my heart and maybe I'll save them for another post. 2013 was the year of learning for me. I learned some important, yet extremely hard, lessons. For Example.....

There is nothing wrong with being "normal". When I was young I dreamed of bright lights and skyscrapers. My mom and Co. have sat through countless performances from plays and musicals to choir concerts to impromptu living room talent shows and much more. We expected that by age 21 I'd be in New York on Broadway or about to release my 2nd studio album. I was determined to flee the small town scene and become a STAR. Somewhere in my journey to stardom, I realized I wasn't going to be famous. I wasn't going to be bombarded by paparazzi when I went to the grocery store. I would probably not have to rush to the airport in Paris to make a fashion show in Dubai where Beyonce was holding my front row seat. Not because I couldn't, I just didn't want to. I realized that I kinda liked this small town thing. Actually, I kinda love it. Now, I dream a much different dream. A house outside of city limits but close to a small, country church. 2 kids who track mud in on the carpet after I just vacuumed. A husband who loves God just as much as I do, and maybe even more. And I'm totally fine with that.

Perfection doesn't exist. Some of the best Christians I know are ones that haven't always been Christian. Or the ones that really "messed up" and it took something tragic or drastic to bring them back to Christ. When I was a kid I went to camp every summer. As I got older, I gained more and more respect for the counselors that were there year after year. One year, a counselor named Scott shared his story. He told us how as a teen he drank, did drugs, had sex and everything else. He was selfish and didn't care who he hurt. It wasn't until he got married that he realized the type of person he needed to be. This showed me that it's never too late to get on the right path and should you venture off of it, it's okay. Often times, we have a harder time forgiving ourselves than God does. That year after camp I got baptized. That was 9 years ago. This past summer I was a counselor for a particular week of camp that Scott was also counseling for. During one of our devotions with our family of campers, he taught me another important lesson. He shared with the campers that loving God is a daily choice. He compared it to marriage, admitting that some days he wakes up, rolls over and looks at his wife thinking "what am I married to??" but despite her morning breath, knotty hair and smeared makeup from the night before, he chooses to love her. I'm not sure why this resonated with me so greatly, but I think it's because as humans, we take comfort in knowing that we aren't the only ones who struggle. It also brings a sense of unity, knowing that there's no such thing as the perfect Christian, just a group of people with the same belief, working toward the same goal and ultimate reward: eternal life.

What did you learn in 2013?

Also, I forgot to mention that I actually kept a New Year's Resolution last year! 2013's goal was to go an entire year with no speeding or seat belt tickets, or any other traffic violations (I'm a little bit of a speed demon). Yay!