Here's a few examples in no particular order:
- I used to spend hours each night watching TV...Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, The Voice, Ringer, Vampire Diaries, etc. I watched a lot of TV, not going to lie. NOW...I hardly watch any TV. Lately I have picked up watching a bit of The Voice, and Justin and I enjoyed Duck Dynasty...if I could stay awake long enough to watch it! But even now...TV just isn't a part of my daily life, and I can't say as I really miss it at all.
- I used to take a lot of pictures. A LOT of pictures. So many pictures that a typical conversation with Logan would go like this: "Mommy, come play with me." Me: "Oh no. I'm going to sit back here so I can take your picture. You play!" These days, I don't take so many pictures, but I do spend an awful lot of time getting in the action with my family!
- I used to spend a lot of time editing, organizing, and uploading all those pictures I took. Now I find I barely have the time to do that with the few pictures I have been taking. Must be because of all that time I spend playing with my boys and hanging out with my husband... Can't complain about that!
- I used to blog a lot. In fact, a year ago I set out to blog everyday in November. It was soooo important to me to blog. Now...I barely seem to find time to drop in here on my little blog and make an update...and it doesn't really bug me. (Well, maybe a little 'cuz I like the record it keeps, but not enough to change it.)
- I didn't use to exercise because I hated it...and now I do it almost daily (and enjoy a love/hate relationship with it), and I have a twenty pound weight loss to prove it.
- Not so long ago, I didn't really socialize outside of my immediate family, had few friends, and never took time away for myself. These days I have crafterdays and my Bon Bon Girls on Thursday nights. I'm not sure how I functioned so long with out a social life!
- Once upon a time, I went to church begrudgingly because it was "the right thing to do." These days I go to church because I love it, because it adds something to my life that I don't want to live with out any more.
- I used to take my husband and the time we spend together for granted...assumed he'd always be there. I didn't nurture or cherish our relationship the way I should have. I paid a very high price for that mistake, and now that I've been given a second chance, I take advantage of the time we have together.
Just under two years ago my life - as I knew it - shattered. At the time, it was the worst possible thing I could imagine and I didn't understand why. As I went about picking up the pieces, I realized that for too long I had been living a half-life. In fact, at times, not really living at all. Just surviving. And in that moment of realization, I found the courage and strength to start making changes.
I never actually set out to specifically make all of the changes I listed above...those are just some of the things that just naturally happened as God worked through me to change my attitude, to change my heart.
Values shape priorities, and the condition of our hearts shapes our priorities. My heart has shifted, so my priorities have shifted as well. I hope that I continue to grow in positive ways from this experience, that I never forget what these past couple of years have taught me.
