Lessons

10 Things I Learned while being with my Parents + Bro:

1) There is grace in a community of grace. any sin, from pride to sexual lust, has no place being there. but when exposed, it is punished accordingly and then covered with love and forgiveness.

2) as mature as i think i am, i still have so far to go.

3) i am loved for who i am by more than just God.

4) i can't cover all the bases even though i try. if anything, God's been covering all the bases that i worry about (health, wealth, emotional stability)

5) my parents are proud to have a daughter who wishes to go to missions for her summer instead of going home.

6) being an adult (parents definition: 21+ years, college grad) is so much harder emotionally than i thought it was.

7) seeing my spiritual growth has spurred my parents to continue their own growth. in this way, God is working in our family. i don't think we've prayed as a family on a vacation, like, EVER.

8) my parents haven't been the best spiritual leaders, but they're trying.

9) i can now die happy as an (amateur) artist now that i have not only seen 10 real monet paintings, but also Vermeer closet paintings, the ear-less van gogh portrait n' a da Vinci piece...

10) my dad still remembers a lot about civil engineering than i give him credit for (..."the ceiling of this subway tunnel has no pillars but its curved shape creates tension at a point to distribute the total pressure from the ground above"... etc etc)