Learning!!!

Do we ever get to the place in life where we no longer learn???  I seriously doubt it.  I learn new things everyday and I am...let's just say I am not 25 any more.  LOL  The word 40 is still not easily rolling off my tongue.  Here is a list of things that I have learned in my short time here on earth...some funny...some serious. 

I have learned lately that it has been more the little things in life that truly make me happy.  Lately, a good hair day has just thrilled me to pieces, but it never seems to be the really big things in life that sparks a tenderness in my heart.  Just simply watching some birds at our feeder, and seeing them in their true amazing form.  The way they can fly, how they sense danger and how they love those tiny seeds we put in the feeder. You just have to know that a truly great God created these little beings. 

 To hear a child laugh with a high pitched giggle at truly nothing(to us) is another wonder to me.  It makes me want to join in and not care who is watching.  That is another thing I have come to learn and appreciate....not caring what others think.  I am talking about the little things in life, such as acting silly once in a while or laughing in public so hard you almost fall out of your seat.  Isn't it more wonderful to laugh and make a spectacle of yourself than to be sour all the time?  My vote is to let go and be yourself and not let this society dictate your actions. 

I have learned that political correctness is not always correct.  I mostly see it as a compromise to God's Word and an attempt to shield and cover up sin.  Sin is sin, you can call it what you want, but it is still sin.  Prettying  up sin doesn't make it go away, and doesn't hide the fact of what it really is in this world (this could be a whole other blog in itself).

I have learned to appreciate the beauty around us.  God carefully created this world for us to enjoy, but sadly most are too busy to notice the beauty that surrounds us.  Beautiful sunsets, rainy days, rainbows, a sky full of twinkling stars, moonlight and I could go on and on at the beauty that He provides us; if we just learn to appreciate and observe it.  Yesterday as the sun begin to rise to start the new day, for the first time I really saw the morning light.  I am talking about that little bit of fog burning off and the way the dew drips off the things that it has kissed during the night.  The calling of the birds as they start their day.  I was in awe of the things that I observed, and a little sad of not noticing these things before.  Nothing I have done in life is not so important that I can't take to enjoy the scenery that God has given us. 

I have learned that there are some things in this life that you can not change.  I use to obsess about certain things in life.  In reality most where things that were beyond my control to change.  I can't change people or circumstances.  Once this was instilled in my mind, things got better for me.  I also learned to stay out of these situations, it makes life easier.  Most situations in life that I can not change are not important to begin with, they are usually our own agendas that we are trying to fulfill.  Some of this is in hope to please others.  Pleasing others will drive you crazy or kill you one...you will never win.  You can't please all people, and I stopped trying a few years back.

I have learned that singing in public will not kill me, and I have yet to throw up on stage.  Although I feel like it most times.  This may sound silly to some, but this is a big fear of mine.  I am slowly getting over it little by little, but I am still learning and trying to accomplish this one thing.

I have learned that comfortable clothes are the way to go.  Again this gets into trying to please people or fit in a mold that society has created.  Four inch heels may be fashionable, but this chick won't be wearing them.  I love my feet too much to do that to them.  LOL

Learning to say "no" was a biggie for me.  As a pastor's wife all my life, I was the "yes" man.  I would say yes to anything anyone asked of me.  It almost killed me doing that.  Not so much physically, but more my spirit.  Instead of being happy, I was miserable.  I learned to only take on the things I felt led to do or the things that I loved to do (such as, why am I leading a kid's choir?).  This is where I learned not to let people put higher expectations on me than I felt comfortable with.  There is no pastor's wife mold that we all have to fit into....no I don't play the piano.  I felt like a failure for years because of that one phrase.  It seemed like all pastor's wives did play, but guess what???  I am funny!!! Most are not...I learned to make my own mold.  After I did that....I was much happier in the role of pastor's wife.

The best thing I have learned lately is that laughter is great medicine for the soul.  I try to find the humor in most situations and laugh until I can't laugh no more.  We can always point out the negative in all situations, but it takes effort to see the humor.  My friend made me a plaque that says, "Why laugh if you don't snort."  I love it and I have learned to laugh and snort in just about all situations.

Life is a always a learning process.  We just have to put into practice daily what we learn.  Never think that you are too old to learn something.  Even a child can teach us important lessons in life.