1.) life is fleeting. live in the moment.
2.) people never call anymore. call your mom. call your grandma. call your old friend that you haven't talked to in middle school but wished you knew how they were doing.
3.) one of the worst things in life is to sit at your deathbed with regrets. all those "i wish," "i could have," "i should have"...just do what you're scared to do. it means you're about to do something really brave.
4.) people can't read your mind. no matter how close you are with that other person, they are not a mind-reader. just say what you're feeling, thinking, going through.
5.) you never really know what someone else is going through. show God's love to them.
6.) we forget while we're getting older, our parents are getting older too. cherish the time you have with them while you can.
7.) it's normal to feel lonely and to feel lost, especially in your 20's.
8.) don't worry; everyone else doesn't know what they're doing either.
9.) stop thinking you need to make all these societal milestone "achievements." people grow at different rates.
10.) no one will ever fully and completely understand you like God does. there's that saying: "God loves you more in a moment than anyone could in a lifetime." it's true.

as followers of Jesus,
we will be rejected.
but we need to be reminded
that Jesus was martyred, murdered,
whipped, lashed, spat on, and condemned
for being the Son of God.
as it says in john 15v18:
"if the world hates you,
know that it has hated Me
before it hated you."
don't be ashamed of
being a son or daughter of God.
we aren't called to be like the world.

education doesn't stop
after you get your college diploma,
your grad school diploma,
your ph.d...
education is life.
keep learning daily.
also don't forget that
God's wisdom is far higher
than human wisdom.
seek His wisdom above
human wisdom.
and most importantly,
live it out with your
deeds and actions,
not just your words.

to all my fellow quiet people...
who have felt like what you have to say isn't
valuable, heard, or understood.
you're not meant to be understood by everyone anyways.
but those people who love you for you, cherish them.
those people deserve to know the real you.
stop being so scared of speaking up.
just as mlk jr. said: "our lives behind to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
so speak up about the things that matter.
use your voice for good.

The Creator of E minor, oceans, mountains, glaciers, galaxies, stars, the universe
thought of me before the world
ever came into existence.
He knows the number of hairs on my head.
He understands me more than any human being who's spent a lifetime with me.
He formed me and knit me in my mother's womb.
He counts the stars and knows them by their name,
and yet He thought of me.
He loved me so much that He sent His one and only Son to die for me on that cross.
Bearing all my guilt, pride, and shame.
And to think that I am always on His mind.
He is speaking and calling out to me in nature, creation, and still
He calls me beloved.

quality time is my top love language.
words of affirmation is my second.
i value the time i spend with people, because time is something you can't get back.
i think people don't realize the power of words.
they have the power to inflict pain or uplift others.
i suppose that is why i'm slow to speak and think so much before i say something. maybe too often. overthinking everything.
but it is important to think before speaking.
even though people may not remember what you say, some people remember what you say for a long time. it might be engrained in their minds because of something you said that hurt them.
choose your words wisely, and carefully.