Well, it's been almost a year since my blog about the bullying I have endured. Amazingly enough, I have learned so much about myself since then. So many things that border from small, to things that completely changed my life. This blog will be about the changes and lessons I have learned.
Firstly, I learned that I can be happy. Boy was it amazing when I saw how amazing life could be when I forgot and forgave those who were evil to me. I have the most amazing friends that I know I can actually count on. Friends who inspire me on a daily basis. Friends who, even when I am down and depressed, include me and don't expect me to act happy. They get me, they get what I have been through, and they accept me for who I am.
Second, I have a teacher and fellow youth ministry majors who are just fantastic, and they're all great friends too. When I went in for my internship final, my teacher told me something along the lines of, "Julia it's pretty difficult having 9 brothers." Not going to lie y'all, at first I was completely confused, then I realized he was talking about my classmates. I call them my guys because they're basically brothers to me, and they can be quite hilarious. There's nothing quite like going to a class for your major and feeling like you belong.
Third, I learned that sometimes, family issues arise. Honestly, that's all I can put on that issue. Family isn't always perfect, and I have had plenty of time to learn that over the last year. As selfish as this may sound, I was sincerely hoping to spend my birthday weekend at home with both of my parents, but that isn't going to be happening. As they say, for every action, there is a reaction. And the reaction for this paragraph may be swift, but I'm not going to cover things up. I'm all about honesty.
Fourth, I learned that despite how I see myself, there actually can be guys out there that are interested in me. Although, lesson number 4.5 that I learned is to never let myself think that just because a guy is nice to me that he likes me. I let myself in for a bit of heartbreak and a lot of awkwardness for that one. Don't get me wrong, I was absolutely not in love with said guy, but I did like him. And I had others telling me that they thought he liked me. So lets just go back to lesson number one, thank God for my amazing friends. They helped keep that smile on my face, and helped keep me the Jubilee people call me.
Fifth, I learned that even though I may be alone for the time being, I can still truly be happy for my friends relationships. In a social media focused world, all I am surrounded with is news of pregnancies, engagements, weddings, and babies. Gah y'all. It gets so overwhelming sometimes (most times). Don't get me wrong, weddings and babies are happy occasions, but there are people who are my age who have been married, divorced, and are already engaged again. Or people who get engaged one day, have an argument, their status says single, then the next day they're engaged again. I'm not calling out anyone specific for this. It's just something I'm seeing A LOT. Now to the happy part of this lesson. Because of my amazing friends here at school, I am in the most amazing state of mind, which means I'm happier. Which means that when I have friends getting into relationships, engaged, and married *cough*Mitch&Emily*cough*, it brings me happiness. It just makes me so happy to see those who I love be so happy. They deserve all the happiness in the world.
Sixth, I was reminded how strong my grandma is. She was diagnosed with breast cancer back in September and underwent a lumpectomy in October. She is an amazing woman who takes care of so many people, even while undergoing radiation treatments (which she is so close to being done with).
Seventh, I learned that there is something that I would like to do along with youth ministry. That is, wedding designing. Weddings are such happy occasions and I want to help design, plan, coordinate them. That's why I've got so many wedding boards on Pinterest (not just for myself, but for my friends too).
Eighth, and possibly the last, is that FUGE friends are friends for life. I never thought I would get the email to work FUGE, and even less expected it to be in the location that I absolutely never wanted to go to again. I am so beyond glad that God blessed me with the opportunity, even as a short summer staffer. I got to Kentucky on May 29th, and my goodness, I felt like I left on May 30th. The summer flew by so much quicker than I ever expected. I am so horrible at goodbyes, so needless to say, I shed a lot of tears when it was finally time to come home. I am so lucky to say that I had the most amazing support system at camp, and that our friendships didn't stop after camp. We are all friends for life.
23 was a fantastic year full of memories, lessons, and just so much amazingness. I turn 24 in a week and I am so excited to see what it has to offer.
No comments:
Post a Comment