25 Lessons Learned by 25 - 25 of my favorite life lessons that I have learned so far in my 25 years! by A Love Worth Living For

I turned 25 in May and have wanted to write this post ever since. It took me a bit longer than planned to come up with 25 but here we go. Here are 25 of my favorite life lessons and discoveries from the first 25 years of my life.

1. Being bossy doesn't make you a good leader. I was born a natural leader and an oldest child. This mostly means I spent most of my life bossing around my younger siblings.

2. Naps are awesome. I was the kid who literally never took a nap. I remember deciding I wasn't ever gonna nap in head start when they'd make us sleep with our heads on the desk. First off - that is not comfortable. Second - I have never been comfortable being out of control and my head down in a room full of people freaked even four year old me out. Oh but what I would give to have all those squandered naps back now.

3. Wrongs committed against you are never your fault. When someone else does a terrible thing to you or you are just collateral damage, that is not your fault. When you are made a victim, that isn't your fault.

4. Just because you have been victimized at some point or another in your life, doesn't mean you have to remain a victim forever. You actually shouldn't. Realize you were a victim. Past tense. Forgive. Heal. Move on.

5. Being mean to people won't make you happy. As a former bully, I learned this through first hand experience. I would belittle and attempt to crush the spirits of others because I was so miserable. it made me feel strong, but it didn't make my depression any better or make my life something worth living. it gave me no purpose and that's what I think I was lacking.

6. It is okay to be a night owl. Im not make me lazy just because my days start later and end later. I am my most creative at night and that's not a bad thing.

7. Smiling really does improve your mood. Try it.

8. Goofing off and acting out in school only ever hurt me.

9. Parents are human. Humans are not perfect. Man I wish I could tell 15 year old me this.

10. God is more than a feeling. I was a church camp kid so I am familiar with the emotions that can get stirred up in an exciting church service. I was always hollowed out when I got home and I couldn't feel God...or rather those emotions. When I learned God was more than a feeling I learned to pursue Him regardless of how I feel.

11. Milk in large quantities is not good for the tummy. Curse my love of chocolate milk and slight lactose intolerance. I wish I could tell seven year old Andriana and her parents that she is not a hypochondriac making up tummy aches after breakfast cereal every morning to get out of school... hindsight right?

12. Sleep is worth fighting for!! The body performs better when it's charged. Eight hours of sleep is a priority!!

13. Dogs are great. I spent more than half of my life with a deep fear of dogs. there was this situation with a dog chase in my little red wagon... anyways it was traumatizing. I got my first puppy at 24 and I LOOOOVE her and my tolerance of all dogs has sky rocketed.

14. There is immense power in our words. What we say about ourselves, others or our circumstances shapes what we think. It is important to learn to tame the tongue and always speak life!

15. Others people’s actions and attitude’s don’t justify or define my own. I am in charge of me. I choose how I behave. I choose what I will allow to influence my life.

16. The world does not revolve around me... I know. I was shocked too.

17. To make a friend you have to be a good friend. Being a good friend requires thinking of other more than yourself.

18. Serving others is a great way to kick depression. This is because depression makes us very selfish and self focused. It causes us to isolate ourselves and then we only have our problems to think about. Stepping out and finding other people in need and meeting those needs helps shift the focus and lift our spirits.

19. Being your own boss is awesome!

20. Joy ALWAYS comes in the morning. The Bible says “For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” (Psalm 30:5 KJV) I have found this to be true. Heartache, loss & pain always give way to joy when we cling to God through it and wait for morning.

21. Rejection is very hard to get over. The pain from it runs very deep and effects everything you do and all the relationships you makes…or don’t make. The only way I have found to cope with and get over rejection is through the One whom was also rejected by all those He cared for and has promised NEVER to reject us. His steadfast, unconditional & everlasting love can and will heal all of those places.

22. Forgiveness is a journey. It is also a choice. It does not mean to forget. It is a choice to take back the power that unforgiveness has over you. It is a daily task to choose not to remember the wrong against the person you’ve forgiven and not to bring it up against them. Forgiveness is not a feeling.

23. Your lineage does not have to define you. You create your legacy. Not your parents or your grandparents or anyone else.

24. Who you were doesn't dictate who you are or will be. The past does not define your future.

25. Life is worth living.

Thank you guys for reading!!

Love y'all,

More Things To Love:

4 Common Misconceptions I Had Before Marriage - My Advice To Engaged Couples & Newlyweds

There is a common saying that warns you shouldn’t assume things because it will make an ass out of you.

Well, I guess you could label me a donkey hind quarters because I make a lot of assumptions. Turns out I had quite a few assumptions in mind as I went into marriage.

Some of my assumptions were true, but some...well, some were not.

Turns out some of the things I assumed about what married life would be like were not all that accurate. I would love to share four of the biggest misconceptions I carried into marriage because I think these are common traps.

Bible Verses For Overwhelm & Fatigue - Scriptures For The Overwhelmed Heart

We all know how it feels to be completely overwhelmed and exhausted.

Life get's hectic and the feeling of overwhelm can begin to feel like an old familiar friend. The good news I have for you today is even if overwhelm comes to visit, you don't have to let it stay around. Here are some of my very favorite Bible verses for overwhelm and fatigue. I pray they bring you some encouragement when challenging seasons sneak up on you.

Life is full of distractions and uncertainties. Sometimes we get busy and overwhelmed and we loose sight of our priorities. Here is how to read the Bible when you haven’t for too long.

Bible Study: Where To Start When You Just Haven't In Too Long

It’s been a month, and you realize you can’t remember the last time you touched your Bible. You’re not even sure where it is. Where do you even start to get back into the Bible? Where do you even go in the Bible to get your hunger for the Word of God back? What do you read when you don’t even really want to read?

Does this sound familiar? It is a common situation, but I want to help you combat the shame and condemnation that also shows up in these seasons.

You’ve neglected your Bible study, so you are already vulnerable, and then here come guilt, shame, and condemnation to dogpile on top of you and kick you while you’re down. This makes jumping back in and knowing where to start all the more challenging.

I want to help you figure out how to get back into studying the Bible and actually enjoying it. The Bible is a vital and redirecting source, and I want you to be able to jump back in with joy and excitement.

Parenting is wild. Here are 3 Surprising Lessons Motherhood Taught Me About Holy Spirit and how they can change your relationship too!

Motherhood & The Holy Spirit - 3 Surprising Lessons Motherhood Taught Me About Holy Spirit

I took part in a training years ago on ministering deliverance. The thing that has stuck with me is that your relationships with family impact your view of the individuals of the trinity.

How you interact with your dad heavily influences your instinctual view of God. Your relationship with your friends and siblings impacts your view of Jesus. The way you related to your mother impacts how you relate to Holy Spirit.

This teaching has proven more accurate in my life and faith walk than I would like to admit at times.

Now that I am a mother, I think about and talk to Holy Spirit a TON more than ever before. The Holy Spirit is described using qualities that come most natural and common to women and mothers.

Holy Spirit is a comforter, an advocate, a counselor, and a helper.

As I quickly approach becoming a mother of two, I have been reflecting on this concept again. So if my mothering instincts are a reflection of the nature of Holy Spirit, here are some things I have learned.

Loss is hard. Whether it is the loss of a loved one or the loss of a dream or something we treasure, it's all painful. When we are grieving it is important to know where to turn for encouragement. These verses for loss are a perfect source of comfort for the grieving and heartbroken.

15 Verses For Loss: Scriptures to Comfort the Grief Stricken

I don't know your story, but loss is loss. So whether you've lost a dream, a child, a relationship or whatever, that hurts. Your pain is valid, and mourning is a necessary process to healing. You are allowed to be sad and even angry. But I want you to know that you are not alone in your pain. God is there with you. Even if it is Him you are mad at (He's not intimidated by your anger by the way), He won't leave you. He's not uncomfortable with your sadness.

God is with you. He will see you through this season. I pray this post gives you some encouragement. I spent some time today going through and deepening it a bit so even if you've been here before I think it's worth the reread. Live blessed you guys and be kind, especially to yourselves today. Sincerely in Him, Andriana.

Walking into new social situations can be really scary and nerve wracking. It is even worse if you struggle with social anxiety. We were created for community and connection with others. We thrive when we are a part of healthy friendships and relationships. That is why God does not leave us alone to figure it all out. These verses are perfect for encouraging those who are struggling with social anxiety.

15 Verses For Those Who Struggle With Social Anxiety

Listen if your palms get all sweaty at the thought of having to mingle or you would just much rather stay at home in your pj’s watching netflix from bed than go to a new place where you have to interact with strangers for an undisclosed amount of time, I feel you.

I too struggle with social anxiety and thankfully God has bought me a very long way. I have struggled with social anxiety for as long as I have been social. It stinks. The big problem is that it keeps us from the community we need and crave and it buries us in fear and anxiety until we have isolated ourselves and built walls to protect us from unseen threats.

So much of the encouragement and growth we need and crave in this life will come from the Father but through others. We NEED people and community. So how can we press through the social phobias to make the connections we crave?

Reading has always been a passion of mine but having my first baby made finding time to read very challenging. Here are my tips on how to read more books as a busy mom or person and how I read over 30 books in my first year of motherhood.

I love reading. I wish I could say I had always loved it, but it wasn’t until I was 18 the I discovered the power of books! Sometimes I think back to my single days back before the husband and kids on how much I used to be able to read in a year.

Long gone are the days of staying up all night to finish books. Since my son was born, finding the time to read has been quite a challenge. Nevertheless, I have discovered some great ways to make sure that I am still taking the time to escape into great books.

In fact, I managed to read 30+ books in my first year of motherhood. Which was such a blessing as it helped me to endure the challenges that come along with caring for my first newborn.

So here are the things that made all the difference for this busy mom!

You have heard the phrase, "God will never give you more than you can handle," right? But why does that often feel untrue? Does God give us more than we can handle? Does the Bible actually back this idea up? & When it all starts to feel like too much where do you turn? Find all of those answers in this Bible study for overwhelm.

Does God Give Us More Than We Can Handle? - What To Do When It All Feels Like To Much

All my young adult life, I have heard well-meaning people say things like: “God won’t give you more than you can handle.” I was always baffled when circumstances came that were way more than I was capable of handling on my own.

When life becomes too much, how do we reconcile that with that familiar phrase?

God won’t give us more than we can handle…right?

Wrong.

There is no verse in Scripture, at least none that I have found, that backs up this common claim.

I am not sure about whether or not God gives you more than you can handle, but I am confident that life indeed hands out more we can deal with in our strength.

So what do we do when life hands us more than we can handle? What do we do when the circumstances are overwhelming us, and we feel like we are drowning in the chaos of our current realities?

We all have this deep need to be known and understood. We long to be heard and accepted. So how can we love others when we feel entirely unheard by them? How can we continue to listen when it seems our words are falling on deaf ears? How can we pursue connection when it seems all the other person is interested in is distance?

How To Keep Loving When You Feel Unheard

We all have this deep need to be known and understood. We long to be heard and accepted. In spite of these needs that we all share, we tend to be terrible at meeting this need in others without doing some serious work to grow in self-awareness.

So how can we love others when we feel entirely unheard by them? How can we continue to listen when it seems our words are falling on deaf ears? How can we pursue connection when it seems all the other person is interested in is distance?

I know that it is possible and I know that you can become really really great at it and I know that if you do the work necessary all of your marriage and relationships have a great chance of improving and strengthening.

Have you ever found yourself asking How Does God Really Feel About Me? Do you know the answer? Do you truly believe that God is found of you? This will not only tell you and probably surprise you with the truth of how God feels about you but it will also give you proof to rest in when doubts and fears come.

How God Really Feels About You

A sad reality is that tons of believers don’t actually know how the Father feels about them. We tend to make up these narratives, and we imagine that God responds to us the way that we would respond to us.

I lived quite a bit of my Christian life believing that God was this distant, Gandolf the Grey looking deity in the sky which looked down on me with apathy. I thought He just wasn’t that interested or involved in the details of my life but that He was very much keeping score.

I imagined when I sinned or fell short that He was angry and I would even have this imagery in my head of Him turning away from me, punishing me with the silent treatment — washing His hands of me until I did enough to earn His love and favor back.

I believed this because this is how I learned people responded to my shortcomings and mistakes. Imagine the freedom when I learned that none of that was true!

The truth is that He is crazy about you. Let’s look at some key points and verses that reveal just how much the Father loves you.