Mellowing out….(rambles alert!)

It’s funny how much people can change over just a few years. Periodically I go through old things I’ve written and it always is amusing to see how my opinions on certain things change. Most of the time it’s things that I’ve never done or experienced, but I have an idea set in my mind just how it should happen and how I’ll react and handle it when it does come. I’m learning more everyday just how idealistic and at times, silly I was when I was younger. You never know how you will handle something until it happens. You may have ideas about it, but you can’t know until that moment.
I think that my 16 year old self would be very surprised and maybe even shocked at me today. I am much more laid back about some things than I ever thought possible for me. I’m afraid I was almost an extremist (!) on some issues in my younger days. Now I can see that some of that narrow-mindedness was just from lack of experience. Maybe as I have grown older I’ve seen that some things aren’t as black and white as I thought. The further I go, the more I’m learning that you can’t stick to a set of rules and a formula and expect everything to come out how you want it. Life is not like a cake mix. Every person/family is different and how the Lord works in their lives differs and the convictions and lifestyles He calls them to differ.
On the other hand however, as I have grown and matured, my convictions and views on some areas have only grown stronger and more deep. My views on marriage and the relationship between a husband and wife have only strengthened. My opinions on children and how I would like them to be trained and educated (I don’t have any yet so I can’t know for sure ;) ) haven’t waivered but have only grown in strength.
Yes, I want to impact the world for Christ and take dominion, but right now my focus is just my little world—how can I make our home a peaceful, restful sanctuary, and how can I be a blessing to our church and family? I don’t really have much of a vision past that right now. My hands are pretty full with just that.
At the same time, while I have let some things go and held on to others, I don’t judge or look down on people who might be considered ‘in bondage’ to things I don’t feel are completely necessary. One thing I’m learning is that we don’t know all of the details or every side of the story. We may not understand why people would consider some things necessary, but we don’t know every side to the story.
I’m going to bring this rather rambling post to a close and go check on my cinnamon swirl bread. (I’ll share the recipe soon!)