April showers bring May flowers

So I went down to visit family in Louisiana over spring break. This is always an adventure. The two sides of my family are very different and very large. As in, as close to polar opposites as I have ever seen two groups of people be. Since I love observing people, I decided to write down ideas that I noticed on this trip.

1. It is ingrained in our personalities to see something beautiful and immediately want it. Rarely do you see people solely admiring. If someone compliments your outfit, you can often tell not only do they like it, but they want it. Consequently we have sins like jealousy, lust, etc. We need to learn to admire beauty.

2. Home isn't home without people who CHOOSE to love you. Don't get me wrong, My family is amazing (both sides of it!) but my value seems to decrease when I am not around friends, who have the opportunity to ignore me, but choose to love me regardless. Love is not a feeling, like we've been taught, but a choice. We choose to love certain people at certain times. That's why unconditional love is so rare (and may i say almost impossible?!) to find among humans. Isn't it amazing how the more we know about ourselves and our nature, the more remarkable it is that God would ever love us this much?

3. If i may steal an idea from one of the smartest people I know, this third idea is the most signifigant to me. Consider Newton's Law- "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction" Replace "action"/"reaction" with "feeling" and it takes on a deeper meaning in human behavior. If you feel a certain way, there is always an equal/ opposite feeling. I first saw this between my sister and I (when she pointed it out to me). I feel inferior because I'm the youngest. To me, she seems to have it all! She's on her own with a husband, a job, a puppy, incredibly chic clothes, and those loyal, faithful friends (whom I seem to never be able to find). But then Rie feels inferior because she's older. I looked at my friendships with this viewpoint. Some girls seem to have it all, but what do they see when they see me? And then, to my dating relationships- Sometimes I feel like I am just not enough for Dan, but in what ways can i encourage him when he feels that same way? I guess it comes down to me being stubborn again(just when i thought I'd learned this lesson) and putting on my blinders to other's feelings and to my own blessings.

So admittedly, this came out to be a lot longer than I had planned in my head but maybe, just maybe, it helped you. God is good.....all the time. Even when we put on our blasted blinders.