What I Have Learned About Myself In One Year

It is amazing to me how no matter how much you grow and learn, there is always something else to learn about yourself. One of the things that I have always struggled with is being opinionated and thinking that my way is the right way. I guess you could say that I wasn't always the most agreeable person (but everyone has their moments right?). We recently had a foreign exchange student come live with our family for ten months. Our goal for the ten months that he was with us was to make him a part of our family. We wanted him to feel accepted and feel like we were his family.

From this, I learned how a family really works and how a marriage relationship should work. It may seem kind of silly to compare a foreign exchange program with a marriage (especially since I'm not married), but I really learned a lot from the experience. And once again, I learned some of the weaknesses that I struggle with. Being in a relationship or creating and adding to a family takes a lot of self sacrifice...a lot more than I thought. I kind of took the relationship I had with my family for granted because, of course I am going I love them unconditionally, they are my family. And then it dawned upon me, if I am in a serious relationship, or wanting to adopt a child, or foster a child, or even have a foreign exchange student, then I am going to have to learn how to see those people like I see my family.

It's harder than you think. Imagine having a brother or sister that wrecks your car, breaks your phone or loses your favorite book. At first you would probably be so   mad, maybe even more mad than you would be at your friends, but you would still love them and you would still accept them. Whereas, if a friend did one of those things you might not trust them as much. Now imagine that your parents are a little more "conservative" than you would like them to be or your brother or sister likes "weird" music or your cousins are "homeschooled". Those are all things that you may not want your life to be like, or maybe they are things that bother you; but you accept them because they are family. 

I have a really hard time getting close to people that are not exactly like me or who don't believe and act the same way that I do. In a relationship, I always get scared because I'm afraid the other person won't do things the same way I have grown up doing things. This has always bothered me but I have never known what to do about this struggle I have. I never knew what to do until this year, where I had to spend ten months loving and accepting someone into the family who was very different from me. I had to learn that different was ok, in fact, different could be great! It was all in my way of thinking. So I have learned that when it come to a marriage, a relationship, or even a close friendship that, if it is worth saving, then don't throw it away just because you get scared that the other person does things differently than you. No one will do or handle things exactly like you. That is the beauty of God's creation: everyone is different and it is our blessing that we get to have the types of relationships where we get to learn about different kinds of people. 

I just love how God always has a way of teaching us things. Even if we do have to make the mistakes and learn the hard way before he teaches us the right way. But, all in His timing. I'm glad He does teach is things though, that way we get the chance to go back and maybe try to mend some of the things we messed up. Thank you God for teaching me things in your time. Now I know that I can trust you to help me through my struggles and weaknesses. 

I hope everyone is having a beautiful Tuesday!