Then and Now

Five years ago when Aaron and I were dating as little baby freshmen.

And now...

Sometimes I wish I could go back to that little 18 year old girl and tell her not to worry so much.  That it will all work out.  I wish I could tell her that she will marry the man of her dreams.  That she will have the sweetest little girl.  That if she can just be a little patient, she will be happier than she can imagine.  But then again, if that little freshman hadn't worried or struggled, she would have missed out on a lot of learning and growing.  I probably wouldn't realize how grateful I am for these two people that I love the very most.

So now, when I'm worried or struggling with something else...finances, sickness, moving to a new place, leaving my friends and family...I try to think about a 28 year old me.  What would she say if she could talk to me?  I'm guessing it would be something like "Be patient." or "Appreciate how simple life is right now."  or maybe even "Just wait until you have two more kids and then we'll talk about sleep deprivation!"

Life is full of hard, scary things.  But it is also full of oh so many good things.  I'm realizing I can either worry about the hard, scary things or I can embrace them and deal with them and relish the blessings.  I think I'll go with the latter.