Empty Nest, Abundant Life

Nag Less, Pray More

Category: Best Use of my Time (Page 2 of 7)

Nag Less, Pray More

October 26, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Dear Younger Self,

You may think that your constant reminders to loved ones are helpful, but they are not nearly as efficient as praying on their behalf.   Nobody appreciates being badgered.  In fact, it often drives them away from doing what you want.

Instead, take your concerns straight to the God of the universe who created you and the ones you love and knows the absolute best plan for each person’s life and the absolute best way to motivate each person toward that plan.  The Holy Spirit can convict others so much better than you can.   Trust God’s sovereignty instead of your own determination.

Be the person filled with encouragement  for others instead of the one people avoid because of the negative messages they bear.

This post is part of a  31 Day Blogging Challenge entitled Advice to my Younger Self.  Please click here  to find all the posts in this series.  You’ll be glad you did!

Relationships and Experiences are Worth Far More than Any Material Possession

October 25, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Dear Younger Self,

How will you choose to invest your life?  In modern America, the word investment is closely associated with the accumulation of more money and more stuff.   Material possessions will bring fleeting happiness, but not lasting joy.   The more stuff you get, the more stuff you have to maintain, keep track of, and clean.

Instead, I would recommend that you spend your money on memorable experiences and meaningful relationships.   Don’t wait to do the things you’ve always wanted to do.  You never know when you will get the chance to do them again.  The time and energy you spend on others will continue to bless people for generations, long after anything you owned even exists.

So, savor each day, take the time to develop friendships, teach those younger than you what you know, and give a smile to someone who needs it.

This post is part of a  31 Day Blogging Challenge entitled Advice to my Younger Self.  Please click here  to find all the posts in this series.  You’ll be glad you did!

You’re Not in Control

October 24, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Dear Younger Self,

You like to be the boss of your life and like to boss other people around as well.  You rush around like Rabbit from the Winnie the Pooh stories, throwing fits when people don’t do things the way you want them to.  It’s so much better to take a step back from your domineering ways.  The earlier that you learn you are not fully in control, the better.

I can tell you another story from your future to illustrate this fact.  In less than two years, you will be in the throes of hard labor with my first child, attempting to breathe right and do everything according to your meticulous birth plan, and what will happen in real life will look nothing like what you will spending plotting and planning. When you cry out to the nurse, “I feel so out of control,”  the nurse will look into my eyes and calmly reply, “Welcome to motherhood.”

Life rarely goes the way that we plan it will.  Don’t fret that you are not in control.  Instead, rely on God.  He’s the Only One who is truly in control.

This post is part of a  31 Day Blogging Challenge entitled Advice to my Younger Self.  Please click here  to find all the posts in this series.  You’ll be glad you did!

Remember That You and Your Spouse Are on the Same Team

October 22, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Our wedding day, June 30, 1990

 Still in love 27 years later at our daughter’s wedding

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Younger Self,

You were a starry-eyed bride in 1990, looking forward to an amazing future with your groom.  You had no idea the joys and struggles to come in your marriage.   Many of the problems were caused by immaturity and poor attitudes on your part.  You often jump to the conclusion that your hubby isn’t on your side and you are at war with him.  You need to remember that you are one another’s biggest allies and moving towards the same objectives.

Each day, think of a way to bless him instead of a way to blame him.  Make sure you make him laugh every day.  Forgive him quickly.  Even when life is going at breakneck speed, stop to show him affection.  Complement him in front of others, especially your children.  Remember all the reasons you fell in love with him in the first place.

Marriage is a difficult undertaking, considering the differences between how men and women approach life, but it can be rewarding beyond your wildest dreams if you make the choice to be on the same team!

This post is part of a  31 Day Blogging Challenge entitled Advice to my Younger Self.  Please click here  to find all the posts in this series.  You’ll be glad you did!

Great Joy Comes from Giving to Others

October 21, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Dear Younger Self,

Common sense might tell you that getting is so much better than giving, but that is a lie.   Some of the best times you will experience in your life are when you are giving to others.  Try to reach beyond your selfish desires and seek to meet other people’s needs.  It doesn’t take much effort to brighten someone else’s day, yet it can mean so much.  Think of the simple gestures of kindness that people have extended toward you throughout the years and what a difference they’ve made in your life.

Each day gives you fresh opportunities to bring joy to others.  It can be as easy as a smile or encouraging word to a stranger or as involved as a yearlong commitment teaching every week.  Share the topics you are passionate about with others in creative ways.  Don’t expect repayment or even gratitude.

You can change the world by giving your resources, time, energy, and self, and your life will be far richer as a result.

This post is part of a  31 Day Blogging Challenge entitled Advice to my Younger Self.  Please click here  to find all the posts in this series.  You’ll be glad you did!

Travel as often as you can

October 19, 2018 / / 2 Comments

 

Dear Younger Self,

You’ve been comfortable on an airplane since you were a toddler and have always viewed travel as a great adventure.  Even when your parents divorced and lived 3,000 miles away from each other, flying alone as a preteen was no big deal.  You love to plan and anticipate trips and can hardly sleep the night before your departure because you are “trip happy.”

Don’t ever lose that zest for experiencing new places and cultures.  Seize any opportunity you get to travel.  You’ll learn even more by traveling abroad.  Don’t just be a tourist.  Get to know the locals and immerse yourself in the culture and language if possible.  Learn to appreciate the differences between other’s lifestyles and your own.  Assimilate the positive characteristics into your own life when you return home.

While on a trip and exploring Bainbridge Island alone when you were in your 40’s, you found the wall hanging pictured above in a charming book shop on a rainy day and were immediately struck by its wise words.  Your purchased it and hung it in your dining room when you arrived home.  Those words are just as wise today…so go, visit, learn, enjoy, wander, and grow so you will be a better person when you come back home.

This post is part of a  31 Day Blogging Challenge entitled Advice to my Younger Self.  Please click here  to find all the posts in this series.  You’ll be glad you did!

Strive for unity more than perfection

October 18, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Dear Younger Self,

You interact with people often.  When their opinions, decisions, and actions are different from yours, you want to change them.  You reason with, debate, and manipulate in order to get your way.  This is completely unwise.  Do not try to control people.  

Instead, try to approach them on common ground.  Work together for a solution that will satisfy everyone involved.  As long as you don’t have to compromise your character in order to come to a consensus, be willing to negotiate.

You grew up in a household where your dad’s motto was, “Be reasonable; do it my way,” but I think it’s much better to live your life according to 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8a,  “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;[6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

It is far more important to work together than to be right.

This post is part of a  31 Day Blogging Challenge entitled Advice to my Younger Self.  Please click here  to find all the posts in this series.  You’ll be glad you did!

Pray for Wisdom Every Day

October 17, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Dear Younger Self,

Life is hard, and it’s not getting any easier.  You have always been confident in your own intellect, but your conduct in this life will demand more wisdom than you are capable of mustering up on your own.  My advice to you is to rely on God for His unending wisdom instead of your shortsighted self.

The best way to do this is to pray before you even get out of bed in the morning, pray before you respond to any situation, pray before any conversation,  and pray before any major decision.  God delights in filling you with His wisdom but you have to confess that you don’t have enough wisdom on your own and ask God for His wisdom.

Ever since you made the choice to follow God, you have spent endless hours dwelling on the question, “What is God’s will for my life?”  God answers this question very clearly in His Word.  In 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, Paul writes, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

This post is part of a  31 Day Blogging Challenge entitled Advice to my Younger Self.  Please click here  to find all the posts in this series.  You’ll be glad you did!

Keep the faith, even when you can’t see what’s around the corner

October 15, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Photo courtesy of Heidi Louber from one of her incredible long-distance hikes!

Dear Younger Self,

Sometimes it’s hard to keep going when you have no idea what’s coming up next.  You tend to imagine the worst case scenario and let the doom and gloom hold you back from taking the next step.  This is where faith comes into play.  You need to rely on your mighty God who will never leave you or forsake you for every move you make, especially the difficult and new ones.

I love the Martin Luther King Jr. quote, “Faith is taking the first step, even when you can’t see the whole staircase.”  If you stay at the bottom, just staring up at the top, without taking action, you will never get where you are going.

Another friend you haven’t met yet, Carol, has a daughter who has hiked some of the toughest trails in the world and took the attached the following quote to the above picture from one of her hikes,  “Keep the faith, even when you can’t see what’s around the corner.”

If you turn back in hesitation, you’ll miss the amazing view and adventure awaiting you.   You’ll never regret moving forth in faith!

 

This post is part of a  31 Day Blogging Challenge entitled Advice to my Younger Self.  Please click here  to find all the posts in this series.  You’ll be glad you did!

Never stop learning

October 14, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Dear Younger Self,

I know that you just graduated from college and are thrilled to be done with homework, tests, papers, and projects, but I don’t want you to give up on learning.  If you are interested in something, make it a point to learn all that you can about it.  You have so many ways and opportunities to learn skills, languages, subjects, facts, Bible verses, methodologies, and inspiring thoughts, and your newfound knowledge can be used to teach and bless others.

When you allow your brain to stagnate, you become uninteresting.  You have much less to offer.  Your mind becomes dull.  You are less excited about life.  I don’t want that to happen to you.

Never go through an entire day without reading.  Whether it’s reading the Bible, a newspaper, a well-loved novel, an instruction manual, a textbook, or a magazine, find words that will expand your mind.  Never stop going to the library.

I know it’s hard to believe that someday your body will slow down, but I can tell you with certainty that it will.  The wisdom you have attained throughout your life will be a great comfort.

 

This post is part of a  31 Day Blogging Challenge entitled Advice to my Younger Self.  Please click here  to find all the posts in this series.  You’ll be glad you did!

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