My Favorite Things

Sometimes I think back to my childhood and reminisce over the things that I cherished.  My precious doll that I carried everywhere, or the blanket I kept until it fell apart into shredded pieces of cloth, or the pink top with the purple flowers I wore although it was two sizes too small.  Or things like summer vacations at my grandma’s house, driving through the mountains and drinking from the springs, or stopping at the old food truck on the side of the highway for hot tamales on a Saturday night with my family.  Those were some of my favorite memories, some of my favorite things.

As I grew older and discovered new interests, I put away much of those things and tucked away a lot of those memories and embarked on new adventures.  I started to discover that I liked spending time with my friends and learning new things about fashion and hair and even sports.  I grew to love football and basketball, growing up in a town where that’s what you did on a Friday night, played a big part in that.  I now valued my journal and my posters and my music. A few more years passed and I started to think about college and my career and what my life would look like “in 5 years”.  Then I began to long for those times when I sat holding my doll or gathered around the bonfire on Friday night… not wanting to face the reality of being an adult and making adult decisions.  No one told me that it was going to be tough, no one told me that life came with disappointments, and no one told me that it was ok to be scared.

But on the other side of that, no one told me that life can be awesome, that I would develop amazing and long-lasting friendships, and that although there would be some “downs”, there would also be plenty of “ups”.  No one told me that if I work hard and pray hard that I could have my heart’s desire.  But I learned that along the way, what a journey it has been.  And now I have some new favorite things. I have cookbooks and recipes galore handed down, bought and borrowed.  I use them to try new dishes, and experiment with different herbs and spices.  I tend to de-stress while I’m cooking and dancing around the house.  I have friends that I can call at any time of the day or night and if they are too far away to come at that moment, they talk to me until things are settled.  I have a bible that belonged to my grandfather and his notes are in the margins.  I have a faith that has sustained me through life’s every day motions; births, deaths, jobs, relationships, decisions and directions. Some of my favorite things are actually not things at all, they are the connections I’ve made, my ability to encourage those who are hurting, my passion to inspire and empower women; lessons learned and the experiences life has handed me whether I wanted it or not.  It’s such a blessing to think back to spending weeks of my summer without a care in the world, to now becoming the person I am today with responsibilities, a ministry, and an outreach where I’m able to walk alongside people in their journey…whatever that journey is. 

What are some of your favorite things?  Are they things at all?  I want to encourage you to think about it for a little while, maybe even write them down.  It might be time to pull out that old photo album, those records or CDs, or even that baby blanket that you packed away years ago.  Reflect and reminisce…evoke that memory, that emotion.  Where are you today?  Where are you going tomorrow?  Any plans? Goals? Aspirations? Take time to think about then and now…what does your journey look like? What are some of your favorite things?