So I turned twenty....
...and I am quite scared... I have heard my mom talk about her "twenties" and how horrible they were and then how glad she was when she turned thirty... So yeah, I am a little bit intimidated... I feel like I am walking into something big... And I don't want to mess it up...Have you ever had the feeling that something huge is about to happen??? Well that is kinda how I feel about entering my twenties... The next ten years will hold a lot for me and I am going to remember them for the rest of my life... So the question is, what do I want to remember them by??? The immature mistakes I made??? Or the growth I experienced??? I hope it will be the latter... Although I have found that mistakes produce growth... But I hope that I will obey more and learn by my mistakes less in the upcoming years of my life... :)
I made a list...
...cuz I am a list person... Of all the things I would like to see accomplished in my twenties... I made it an acronym for the word "twenties"... Lame, I know, but that is what you get with a dad in the military... lol ;)
Some of the things on the list are a little silly, but they are all thought out and sincerely meant... Tell me what you think of it... ;)
T- Thankful: I want to whine less... I want my first thought to be of others not myself... Being thankful for what others have done for you takes your focus off of yourself and therefore cultivates a more Christ-like attitude...
W- Wise: I want to learn moderation... I have such a tendency for extremes... I can be extremely silly, extremely subdued, extremely thrifty, or extremely indulgent... I want to learn when it is wise to curb and to indulge...
E- Enthusiastic: I want to be Joyful!!!
N- Natural: Ok, so by "natural" I mean "healthy"... I want to be more healthy in my eating and exercise and sleeping habits... And also be more aware of the effects the beauty and hygiene products have on my body...
T- Tres Chic: For those of you who don't know what that means, it means "very stylish" in French... Ok, yes I googled it... Don't be a hater ;)... I debated using the word "trendy" or "tres chic" for this letter... It might sound silly, but the reason I went with "tres chic" is because for me it implies a more classy style of fashion... There was a time in my life when I was very "trendy" and it is a time that I would like to move away from... So rather ceremoniously threw away all my Aeropostale t-shirts and bought a cashmere sweater... :)
I would like to put in a word about my personal convictions on modesty... I grew up in a circle that emphasized our weak brothers in Christ and that we should help them out and cover ourselves... This is a very good reason to dress modestly... But I don't think it should be THE reason... Any guy is going to check out a girl that he thinks is pretty no matter what she is wearing... So are we supposed to condemn all of our attractive outfits to the trash just because we got a "look"??? No... This is a false line of thinking and can be very enslaving to women... If you think about it, it is the same line of thought that is behind the Muslim burka... So why then should we dress modestly??? I got this answer from the book "Girls Gone Wise in a World Gone Wild"... The author went back to the origins of clothing... God first clothed Adam and Eve when they saw that they were naked... They saw they were naked because they had sinned... So, in effect, when God covered their nakedness, He was covering their sin... Now, I am probably not explaining that very well, but it all makes sense in my mind and if you want it in more detail, you should check out that book... So in essence, modesty to me is a representation of Jesus covering my sins... After this revelation, dressing and shopping for modest clothing becomes much more exciting... You are no longer enslaved to men's active imaginations, but set free to glorify Christ in creative ways with your wardrobe... Anyway, back to my original topic... :)
I- Interesting: Ok, so there are two elements to this one... First is I want to be smart... I crave knowledge... I work at a library and all the books around me feed that craving ... Of coarse, I am so busy working, I don't have time to read... But I hope to mend that... :)
Second part of it is I want to be interesting romantically... Ok, that's lame I know, but I only had so many letters to work with :)... Seriously though, let's face it, no girl want to be thirty and still single... I want to get married in my twenties... And I pray everyday that that is what the Lord has for me... Otherwise, well... I'd rather not think about that... :)
E- Economic- I want to learn to be more economic with my money... People that know me know that I am a shop-a-holic... A pretty bad case too... Sales kill me... And the people that are in charge of marketing at Michael's must have had me in mind when they were deciding what to put in their dollar bins... I know how to save, but spending money is just so much fun!!! But again, I am trying... My most recent triumph is this laptop that I am now typing this blog post on... I was in the process of saving for a laptop and was fully prepared to wait until I had six or seven hundred saved, but then this Black Friday sale jumped out at me and I got one for 400 bucks... :)
S- Satisfied- This comes from Proverbs 19:23"The fear of the Lord tendeth unto life he that hath it shall abide satisfied and shall not be visited with evil." I want to be content with where I am in life and thrive with the portion the Lord has given me... Or maybe I should say I want to want that... I don't always truly want to do the Lord's will... It is hard and not what your impulses and desires of the moment crave... But what you "feel" at the moment of temptation is a passing feeling and will not last... The feeling of doing what God wants you to do, though, lasts... I need to do a better job of remembering this... :)
So that is my list... My "New Decade Resolutions"... So far it hasn't been going all that great, but "Being confident of this very thing, that He that hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" Philippians 1:6
Note: Ok, I turned 20 back in November... I started this post before my birthday... Yeah, I know it is now January... But hey, updating my blog more is on my list of goals for this year... :)
Oh, and I am trying to get into the hang of picking pictures to accompany my posts... I know these aren't that great, but just be patient.. ;)
W- Wise: I want to learn moderation... I have such a tendency for extremes... I can be extremely silly, extremely subdued, extremely thrifty, or extremely indulgent... I want to learn when it is wise to curb and to indulge...
E- Enthusiastic: I want to be Joyful!!!
N- Natural: Ok, so by "natural" I mean "healthy"... I want to be more healthy in my eating and exercise and sleeping habits... And also be more aware of the effects the beauty and hygiene products have on my body...T- Tres Chic: For those of you who don't know what that means, it means "very stylish" in French... Ok, yes I googled it... Don't be a hater ;)... I debated using the word "trendy" or "tres chic" for this letter... It might sound silly, but the reason I went with "tres chic" is because for me it implies a more classy style of fashion... There was a time in my life when I was very "trendy" and it is a time that I would like to move away from... So rather ceremoniously threw away all my Aeropostale t-shirts and bought a cashmere sweater... :)
I would like to put in a word about my personal convictions on modesty... I grew up in a circle that emphasized our weak brothers in Christ and that we should help them out and cover ourselves... This is a very good reason to dress modestly... But I don't think it should be THE reason... Any guy is going to check out a girl that he thinks is pretty no matter what she is wearing... So are we supposed to condemn all of our attractive outfits to the trash just because we got a "look"??? No... This is a false line of thinking and can be very enslaving to women... If you think about it, it is the same line of thought that is behind the Muslim burka... So why then should we dress modestly??? I got this answer from the book "Girls Gone Wise in a World Gone Wild"... The author went back to the origins of clothing... God first clothed Adam and Eve when they saw that they were naked... They saw they were naked because they had sinned... So, in effect, when God covered their nakedness, He was covering their sin... Now, I am probably not explaining that very well, but it all makes sense in my mind and if you want it in more detail, you should check out that book... So in essence, modesty to me is a representation of Jesus covering my sins... After this revelation, dressing and shopping for modest clothing becomes much more exciting... You are no longer enslaved to men's active imaginations, but set free to glorify Christ in creative ways with your wardrobe... Anyway, back to my original topic... :)
Second part of it is I want to be interesting romantically... Ok, that's lame I know, but I only had so many letters to work with :)... Seriously though, let's face it, no girl want to be thirty and still single... I want to get married in my twenties... And I pray everyday that that is what the Lord has for me... Otherwise, well... I'd rather not think about that... :)
E- Economic- I want to learn to be more economic with my money... People that know me know that I am a shop-a-holic... A pretty bad case too... Sales kill me... And the people that are in charge of marketing at Michael's must have had me in mind when they were deciding what to put in their dollar bins... I know how to save, but spending money is just so much fun!!! But again, I am trying... My most recent triumph is this laptop that I am now typing this blog post on... I was in the process of saving for a laptop and was fully prepared to wait until I had six or seven hundred saved, but then this Black Friday sale jumped out at me and I got one for 400 bucks... :)
S- Satisfied- This comes from Proverbs 19:23"The fear of the Lord tendeth unto life he that hath it shall abide satisfied and shall not be visited with evil." I want to be content with where I am in life and thrive with the portion the Lord has given me... Or maybe I should say I want to want that... I don't always truly want to do the Lord's will... It is hard and not what your impulses and desires of the moment crave... But what you "feel" at the moment of temptation is a passing feeling and will not last... The feeling of doing what God wants you to do, though, lasts... I need to do a better job of remembering this... :)So that is my list... My "New Decade Resolutions"... So far it hasn't been going all that great, but "Being confident of this very thing, that He that hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" Philippians 1:6
Note: Ok, I turned 20 back in November... I started this post before my birthday... Yeah, I know it is now January... But hey, updating my blog more is on my list of goals for this year... :)
Oh, and I am trying to get into the hang of picking pictures to accompany my posts... I know these aren't that great, but just be patient.. ;)
5 comments:
I am in my early twenties and haven't found them "terrible" at all. =)
Fun list, Tory. I've known and known of a lot of girls who desire marriage - seemingly above all else and I see a danger sign in that. Fortunately for me, I've not felt that sense of "panic" in thinking:
"oh, my gosh! when am I going to meet my future husband - how am I going to meet him??"
Everyone is different though.
Happy belated birthday. =)
I have always desired marriage, but there was a time in my life when I took that too far and got hurt... I do still really want to get married, but I have a "Plan B" in case it takes a few years... :)
GIRL! The 20's are not intimidating! In fact, I am sooo excited to be turning 21 and discovering all the new possibilities of my fresh, "adult" mindset and overall way of doing things, thinking, etc. For the first time in my life I feel truly independent--not in a rebellious way, I respect my parents and their advice--but I have the privilege of making most of my own decisions within the boundaries I've learned through my parents--the ones I've set for myself as a Christian. I'm not taking advantage of them...in fact, there is something so satisfying about hearing you're dad give his opinion, then leave the ultimate answer in you're hands. Hm...dad knows more--better take is advice! It's all new and exciting.
Anyway (sorry, I literally just got up, so this might sound like a bunch of jumble.) My 20th year has absolutely been by BEST. I have confidence in Christ that is breathtaking--it came from no where. And I feel much more balanced in my walk. So...don't be intimidated, this is exciting...and we're doing it together. ;)
Last bit--LOVE Girls Gone Wise in a World Gone Wild. Still trying to finish it up, but I think every girl should read that book. Excellent.
Everyone makes mistakes, btw--even in their 30's. ;) I've made some of the dumbest mistakes of my life this past year...we're still learning and growing. But that doesn't diminish the excitement of entering a new stage in life. Like I said, I can't WAIT to turn 21!
This is a pretty cool list. I too am always working towards moderation and economy.
Post a Comment