The Last Five Years + Favorite Memories at 20

Five years ago, I was just a 20-yr old sophomore in college. I have changed so much since then and praise the Lord for it. My college days were some of the best days of my life, though, and it truly played a huge role in me being who I am today. It forced me to grow up in ways I didn't know I needed so badly. I began to grow independent yet grew even closer to my family. I started developing friendships that were ones I treasured deeply. I thought I was so mature, but I was clearly not. There were many decisions I made that were because of my lack of maturity and even if I could go back and change it, I wouldn't. Jeff and I just started dating and things were getting a little more serious, but personally, I didn't really know how to date or act in a relationship. There were a lot of things I didn't know how to do, y'all! I look back now and can see that I was so insecure. Marriage was not in my mind at the time. I didn't have my future plans all together. At this point, I was so sure I was going to become a teacher. I loved blogging (thankfully, I still do) and journaling back then. During those college days, I enjoyed working out, playing volleyball, hanging out and laughing with friends --- basically doing anything to push off homework as long as I could.

Five years later, I'm 25 and married! I'm definitely not a teacher and instead, I work in insurance. I've hopped around for a little bit and newsflash -- I still don't know what I want to do (and that's truly been okay). Jeff and I have moved around and lived in multiple places within a short amount of years. Didn't think I'd move around as often, but I guess I just never realized the reality of ministry. I thought I knew what it meant to love people well back then, but the Lord really showed me what that looked like in these past years. It was both challenging and humbling. Jeff and I have grown immensely as a result of our marriage and it's been incredible to see how far we've come! I admit, I sucked during the dating years. I was a bad girlfriend! Haha. SO thankful that the Lord worked in our relationship. What else .... I still enjoy blogging and journaling, yes. I still am hopeful about working out daily and losing weight. Ha! I'm still into volleyball. I still wrestle with a lot of insecurities, but what's different is how I'm choosing to respond to my insecurities.

I feel like at this point in my life, I should feel more grown than I do, but the truth is I still have much to learn and much to glean from others who have gone before me. You'd think that at 25, I'd have accomplished something, but I don't feel like I have and that's a good thing. Five years has been quite the journey.


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