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I am grateful to God that He allowed me to see another wonderful birthday yesterday.  It was the last  one as a twenty something! I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the lessons I have learned so far in my life and truly appreciate the blessings I have been given throughout the years.

Let’s start with the blessings….

Well first of all, I am extremely grateful that I get to know Jesus Christ as my Lord & Savior for myself. If you don’t know Him I would love to introduce you to Him.

I am grateful that God has blessed me with a great career. He has definitely brought me a long way in a short period of time. Just 6 years ago, I was a BROKE college student who came from underprivileged background. I was so broke that I had to use extreme measures to survive. I had to boil water on the stove so I could take a bath because I couldn’t afford the gas bill so that meant no hot water heater or heat.  I worked at a gas station that sold chicken. I would work the night shift so that I would be able to take the chicken home at night because they had to get rid of it at the end of the shift. Most college students lived on ramen noodles. I lived on beans and chicken. I had a job but minimum wage didn’t really go that far. It covered my gas to get back and forth to school/work and a few utilities. I was so broke that I knew how many miles I could drive on E before my car would finally cut off. I used to pray for the day when I finally became a nurse so that my situation would change. He has blessed me with the ability to make a living helping others and in return I don’t have to live everyday trying to make a dollar stretch so far. Granted I know someday this could change. For now, I’m just grateful that I have been given this opportunity!

I am grateful to have such a supportive family! You can’t choose your family but I am blessed that mine is a true gem. I wouldn’t trade them for the world.

I  have been blessed with a wonderful circle of friends. They are like my family.

I am grateful to have had such a loving grandmother in my life for 28 years. She was like my second Mom. She gave me tough love. She gave me unconditional love. She even brought me back to life once when I was 9 months old and stopped breathing. She considered me her favorite. We had a very strong bond. She will be missed but I am happy that she no longer has to suffer with her illness anymore.

I am grateful to have such a loving husband in my life. A lot of people doubted that our relationship would last because we got married at a young age. So far we have disproved the skeptics. 5 years and counting

I am so grateful to have so many nieces, nephews and godchildren. I get to spoil them and return them to their parents It’s the best thing ever!

I am grateful that God gave me such a compassion to help people. Even in this crazy world, I always find myself trying to see the good in people and wanting to help those less fortunate.

I am blessed to have a place to call home. There are so many homeless people in my community. I have spoken to some of them under a local bridge. Their stories are amazing. A lot of these people were working professionals who lost their jobs due to the economic downturn. They haven’t been able to secure other jobs due to age and experience so as a result they lost their homes. Some people have no family to turn to or they simply cannot afford to make it to family members out of state.

And finally it’s a blessing that my hubby got me on a plane for the first time in 2010. Since then, I have been a travel junkie and I love it!!

And of course there were a few lessons learned a long the way…

I learned to embrace the failures in my life as much as I embrace the successes. I think sometimes failure can be more of a motivating factor than success. If you always succeed at everything you try, then you will never learn how to cope effectively with failure. I used to think that if I failed at something that it meant that I wasn’t smart enough or I didn’t try hard enough. Now I am able to put things into perspective and determine the best route to approach the situation again. Failure teaches you patience, perseverance and enhances your determination.

I learned my self worth. It makes me sad that so many young women today degrade themselves. I can’t stand when women call each other b**ch*s or other derogatory names or even allow someone else to refer to them in that manner. I know wish that women would see themselves the way God sees them- a Proverbs 31 woman. We are worth more than rubies ladies! Stop letting people discredit you value.

I am learning to live in the moment. I have allowed too many great opportunities to pass me by because I was worried about the future or reliving a page from the past. I have realized that growth comes from my decisions. If I make a mistake, so what. If it turns out to be an amazing experience then its worth it but I will never know unless I take a leap of faith.

And of course….

I am so blessed to have met all of you through this blog. I never thought anyone would read my blog but nearly 400 of you proved me wrong. Thank you for your kind words and continued support!

Until next post,