"And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new...."
-Revelation 21:5

"An unmarried woman is concerned about the Lord's affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord...."
-1 Corinthians 7: 34

"To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance."
-Oscar Wilde

Monday, March 1, 2010

Welcome Back/Computer Monday Part One

First off, apologies for my week-long absence from the blogosphere. Last week I had one of those weeks where you just can't seem to get all the way out from that big pile of stuff some people call life, and just when you can see something that might be light, some jerk drops down more stuff, and you're back where you started. I was busy. So busy I did not really have time for proper reflection, so instead of leaving you with some boring, not-thought-out posts, I opted not to post at all. Never fear, it is Monday, which means the return of the Monday Computer Class post (plus, I've been doing some reflection, so there will be some deep thoughts here to). Without further ado, I present part one of the first official Welcome Back/Computer Monday post!

I help with the high school youth group at a church where I live. All my girls are in the process of trying to decide where to go to college (which means I'm kind of back in the process of deciding where to go to college, a process I never really went through since I only applied to one school, which makes me not a whole lot of help). All of this talk about college has made me think about who I was eight years ago when I was getting ready to graduate from high school and set out by myself. The more I've thought about it, the more I see just how far I've come. And I have to say, I'm a lot cooler now than I was then....I have several examples from the week that prove my point.

Wednesday, the Honors Drama classes at my school hosted an Improv Smackdown. Basically, the 7th grade class competed against the 8th grade class, and the 8th grade class competed against the faculty. By compete, I mean played improv games (like the show Whose Line is it Anyway). A few years ago, if someone had asked me to do this, the answer would have been a resounding no, maybe the most resounding no ever heard. I used to be painfully shy. I hated talking to new people, didn't like any kind of social setting, and would never, ever, have willingly gotten up on a stage. But now, much to the joy of the Honors Drama classes, I don't really have a problem with any of these things. A few years ago, I basically stopped caring about what other people think of me. I adopted a new attitude towards life. One that basically said, "This is me. Like me or not, I don't care." This freed me up to do things like make a fool of myself onstage. I'm much more fun now than I used to be, which bodes well for me this year since I'm spending a lot of time with myself.

Thursday, I cooked dinner for some friends. I love to cook. I used to hate cooking for people. I thought that whatever I made had to be perfect because if it wasn't, no one would be my friend anymore. It had to taste perfect, look perfect, be served perfectly. It was pretty darn stressful, which meant I didn't cook for people nearly as much as I would have liked. Then, I learned that most people like to be cooked for, and they don't really care if it is perfect or not. So Thursday, I tried two new recipes (they turned out to be pretty good), and I cared more about spending time with my friends than about impressing them with my mad culinary skills. As a result, I had a great evening that I probably wouldn't have let myself have a few years back (although a few years back, I could have had wine at my dinner....).

All that is to say that I'm very thankful I finally learned how to accept myself-and love myself- just the way God made me. I think I'm much more enjoyable all around. But, I do think that if I don't get married sometime soon, it's probably not going to happen because if I keep becoming more and more fabulous by the day, it's going to take one heck of a guy to be good enough for me (and after watching this season of The Bachelor, I think we can all agree that a guy that great may not be out there).

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