Lessons

Things are going pretty well since my trip to Ann Arbor. In fact, things have been going pretty well for 6 days and yes, I'm counting. 

I learned a few things when I was down. 

-people will surprise you. Sometimes in good ways. Sometimes in not so good ways. Forgiving the latter saves you time and misery later, and it doesn't matter either way to them anyway. 

-God really does hand-pick the people He wants in your life and it may surprise you to see who it is and who it is not. Don't overlook those who take the time to let you know they care. Maybe they are the ones you should be investing more of your time in. 

-when everything is going bad and you feel rotten and nothing seems to help, people can't fix that. Only God can. But you have to let him help. 

-you really are stronger than you think you are, but it is okay to need to lean on others for strength now and then. Leaning on God in times of weakness brings us closer to Him. Praising Him in times of strength makes us more like him. 

-even in the midst of turmoil, you must help others! Even if all you have to give is love, advice, comfort, words, then that's what you give. If it's not enough for them, they don't belong in your life anymore. It's not true that you can't give away what you don't have! Give away what you need and it will come back to you!! 

-family is not always who you are related to. It's who treats you as though your presence matters in their life. It doesn't matter where your love comes from as long as you have some. 

-focusing on troubles and pain brings more troubles and pain. It is immensely hard and it feels impossible to stay positive when you feel horrible and depressed. Some days you just feel bad. I now believe those days are to build compassion and empathy for others! If you never know pain, you never know how to soothe. I now know more than I did before, so my pain was meant for something good. 

I learned many things. I will continue to learn. Those are just a few of my lessons so far. The biggest one is that even though God was quiet at times, He was still working in me. I just needed to be more still. More quiet. More calm. Have more faith. I'm still a bit stormy at times, but it's just the way I'm wired and no one knows how to calm me better than the One who made me.