I’m learning lots this summer. I’m also healing in places that I did not realize I needed to heal. I’m thankful for the Lord for this; I’ve also gotten very convicted about what I value in life. And if the way that I live is reflective of these values. So, as I start to prep for next school year & start to try on different things I want to do post-college life, I decided to write about what I value. I think it’s important to evaluate… which is different critiquing because I want to reflect and grow, not sit around and talk about all the things that are wrong with me and wrong with the way that I’m living. First and foremost, I value Jesus; His death on the cross, His spirit in me and the example He set for me. It is because of Him that I feel compelled to even talk about the other stuff. Because I want to be more like Him and be more changed by His love. So here we go…

I value honesty. And because I value honestly, I will tell you that I’ve watched a lot of Grey’s Anatomy this summer. A lot. Like 160 episodes. And I’m not ashamed of it. But on a more serious note, honesty and realness walk hand in hand for me. When I don’t know the answer, I will be honest and admit it, sometimes too quickly. The high value I place on honesty sometimes gets me in trouble because 1) I assume that people actually care what I really think and 2) I’m not always graceful in telling what I believe to be true. I’m working on both of those though, honestly.

I value growth. Even when it hurts. Which it usually does. Because it has to. I am a work in progress; I’ve seen that growth in my life looks like one step forward and two steps back, but at least I’ve taken that one step forward. We’re all constantly changing. It’s hard, but it’s good. I want my life to reflect Jesus more and more, but that requires me to die to myself and to be transformed into the image of Christ, which is growth. Growth in a person who loves herself less and loves Jesus more. I value growth in myself and I also value it in others. I give snaps for small steps of faith and get excited over the tiniest little thing that demonstrates growth.

I value stories. I’ll do almost anything for the sake of a story. One thing I’m sure of – God writes beautiful stories. He’s the best author. I love reading stories – real and made up – and I love listening to people tell their stories. Stories inspire me, they teach me and they force my eyes upward to God, the one who has carefully tangled all of our stories together from the beginning to the end.

I value truth and grace. While these should be two separate values, I have trouble living them out equally in my life, so I’ll keep them together now. I want to speak more truth and extend more grace. I value the truth that is spoken in the Bible and the grace that God demonstrated towards me & humanity in Christ’s brutal death on the cross. In my life, most of my problems come from a place of not valuing truth and grace enough because if I did, I’d fear and respect God more. And want to obey more. But hey, I’m learning and growing.

I value people. And their opinions. This goes hand in hand with valuing stories, but I love people so much that I want to spend my whole life fighting with them and alongside them. I believe that each person is created in God’s image and that there’s something good in each of us worth fighting for. I wish I was better at investing in and listening to people. Maybe if I stopped watching so much Grey’s Anatomy I would. I can’t wait for heaven where I’ll get to learn about people and spend eternity with them. If I can pry myself away from dancing with Jesus and asking Him lots and lots of questions.

I could keep going. I value freedom. I value family. I value friends. I value fitness. But I think this is my starting point. At this point in time these what I believe to be important in my life. The things I will fight for. I want to live in light of what I believe to be important. I want to walk closely with Jesus and have what He values become what I value. I pray that this be true of me, that I can value what God values above what the world does and because of that, He can be glorified.