I love getting older. 21 is a strange age, but yet a beautiful one. There's strange things that happen in the short time between being a teenager and becoming an "adult". You mature. Your understanding deepens. You can see more clearly what connects. You can apply the stories of past experiences. Things you never thought would make sense, all of a sudden, do.

Man, it's weird.

When I was a teenager, or even barely into 20 years old, or even six months ago for that matter, I thought things and experiences I had gone through, some unwillingly, would never make sense, and there would never be a good reason for them. In the last few months of my life, I've learned that's not true.

By the age of 21, I have gone through three, not so great relationships, and three heart breaks, that for a very long time I wish I had never endured, and that God would have never put me in.

And a few months ago I realized that I was wrong.

I had no clue at the time that those tough situations were forming me to be the woman that I am today.

I wouldn't be as strong as I am. I wouldn't be as understanding as I am. I wouldn't be as confident as I am. I wouldn't have started to love every single aspect about myself, like I do now. (I'll be the first to admit confidence has never been my strong suit, so this is super cool for me.) I wouldn't know that putting what I need first is important. I wouldn't know how much I had been settling. I wouldn't have accomplished as many goals as I have. I wouldn't have as deep of a relationship with God. I wouldn't be chasing my dreams. I wouldn't have this urge to show every single person I meet the love they deserve and that they matter. Most importantly, I wouldn't know that I am enough. Just as I am, I am enough.

And heck, I'd be a lot less happy than I am right now if things would have gone exactly the way my younger naive mind wanted them to.

I mean, who am I to think, that a young woman who locked her keys in her car while pumping her own gas for the second time last week, could really have her own life planned out perfectly. Let's all laugh together now.

Thank God for not letting that be the case.

I'm rambling now. But, I guess what I'm really trying to get across, is that while a lot of people hate getting older, I'm loving it. I love seeing how God's plan for my life has been unfolding and continues to unfold.

I love the fact that it is nothing like I planned, and I am so thankful for that. I love that God loves us enough to push us to our limits, to break us down, to humble us, to only show us that we are enough. God made that known when he died on the cross for us, that we are enough. I am enough. You are enough.

And that's the best lesson I've learned in my 21 years so far.