Lessons from Junior Year

After every semester I have always posted a sum up of things I learn. That list is for me to remember and see the growth that I have made each year. I don't know why this semesters post is so hard for me to write.

I feel like I did a lot of coasting last semester. I went to class, I went to work, I ate, I did homework, I slept. 

That was it.

But through those consistent and seemingly simple days, I did learn some things.

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When it came to classes this semester I really felt like I was learning nothing. I felt like I was going through a redundant cycle of sitting in class but learning nothing. I struggled retaining information and forming opinions for myself. So a lesson I learned

Its important to think.

I am going to work harder at really thinking in class. Its not enough to go to school just for the sake of going to school. Pray for help to fully grasp what you are learning and don't just do the assignments, but really look at how it effects you and what you are learning.

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When it comes to work I learned a million things! But one of the biggest lessons was that

God works through Children.

Those kids are so amazing. They can be absolutely nuts and crazy and hard, but they are so amazing. I have thought a lot about how in the scriptures it tells us to become like little Children. They are so kind, quick to forgive, funny, welcoming. They are amazing.

And even when we tell them three (or twenty) times to stop doing something that isn't safe for them or those around them and they won't listen, there is a lesson there too. My co teacher Anna always looks at the child that is throwing a fit and turns to me to say, "how many times do I do that with the Lord?" That has made me think a lot this semester. How many times do we know we are being stubborn and that there is a better way, but we keep fighting it? 

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The Middle of October will always bring a melt down.

I don't know what it is. But about the same week every year I have some crying break down to someone! Its always this point where people and classes and homework and callings and everything just goes BAM! 

....and I just lose it.

But guess what? Those moments are very healthy.

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Life is always unexpected.

No matter what you think, life is always going to throw you a curve ball. 

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Marriage is essential. 

I was in the Eternal Families Institute course and when you pair that with working with children five days a week, it taught me the real value of two people raising a family. A husband and a wife who are teamed up in the same goals, working together, helping out where the other needs it. Its essential. And so important to Heavenly Father's plan.

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Trials are there to benefit us.

I didn't truly realize this one till I was home. My mom asked all of us to say our highlight from 2016. I sat there and just said, "My 2016 was awful." But if it weren't for all of those trials that taught me valuable and hard lessons, I would not have gone through the temple when I did. 

And let me tell you. I NEEDED the Temple. What a blessing! I needed it so bad. And if it weren't for a lot of the pain and experiences I had, I probably wouldn't have gone through when I did.

Trials bring blessings.