I’ve only lived on this planet we call Earth for a mere fifteen years: a miniscule amount in the scape of life, and even smaller in the scape of the eternity we’ll have with the Lord. Although most of the time it seems like I’m never going to get older, never going to grow, I soon find that I’m wrong. No matter what happens, I keep growing and learning as the days fly by. And so far, there are a few things I’ve picked up on this journey we call life.
With each step, we move a little further along on the map God has charted out for us, and a little closer to His glory in heaven.

I think life is about thanking the Lord for another day every morning when we get up, and thanking Him at night before we fall asleep.
It’s about seeing the glass half-full instead of half-empty, and stopping to smell the roses every once in a while.
It’s about showing little random acts of kindness, and accepting people for the way they are, not trying to mold them into the people we think they should be.
We should live in the world, but not of it, and look with eyes that are open to the truth.
Life is about learning to forgive and forget, not to regret, but to move on. It’s about giving second chances again and again. And again. And again.
It’s about knowing that with freedom comes responsibility. It’s about living with integrity, and obeying the Golden Rule: treat others as you would like to be treated.
God calls us to love each other, and to live with the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
We should go about life acting like the Lord will return tomorrow, but plan ahead like we’ll live for fifty more years.
Life is about daring to be different, embracing change, and being open to the possibilities.
It’s about believing in yourself, and having the confidence that you can change the world.
We should spend a lifetime discovering who we are as unique individuals, not trying to mirror another person who we aren’t meant to be.
God has written the story of every person. He has a perfect plan already being put into action in each of our lives, though we may not realize it at the moment.
He wants us to trust Him in every area of our lives, to praise Him when we win, but also to praise Him when we lose.
A little seed of faith can move mountains.
The Lord just wants us to have faith in Him. He always keeps his promises, and He will never leave us or let us go, because He loves us with an unconditional love that we can’t possibly begin to comprehend. And His love never fails.
God is working in our lives, it just may not be obvious. Sometimes He works His most marvelous miracles under the surface.
He wants us to come to Him with everything. He’s like our Daddy in heaven, and He’s always willing to listen.

So life is an adventure, a road of choices, discoveries, trials, and achievement. Sometimes there will be detour signs, little side roads, and big red signs that say “STOP.” The road will not always be straight, and will not always be a smooth ride.
But if God has drawn our map, and He’s sitting in the passenger seat next to us, we’ll get through it okay in the end.
And I think when the road comes to an end, we’ll be glad we had Him there with us, because what’s waiting for us in that place is more breathtaking than anything we can ever imagine.