The Best is Yet to Come

Dear Ash,

I think life gets better the older you get.

You woke up at 6:00 this morning. By the time I finished feeding you, went to the bathroom, and pumped the extra milk, it was 7:00 and I knew I wasn't going to be able to go back to bed. I was feeling too lazy to really do anything, though, so I just got on my computer. I was scrolling through Facebook and just kept scrolling, getting all the way back to the beginning.

It got me feeling really nostalgic, seeing all my old posts and photos, remembering the relationships I had with people and the fun times. I was really blessed growing up. I had so many people--friends and family--who loved and protected me. I had a pretty fun social life, even though I wasn't the most "popular" kid at school. I just had my group of friends and all the dates I went on helped me meet new people and form fun friendships with them. Each phase of my life was bookmarked by my current "crush" and that was fun to remember too. There were temple nights and drive-home-from-school's with Jon. There were lazy days spent with Jeremy and crazy sluff days with Katelyn. There were lots of laughs and tons of inside jokes. I was very happy--and had every reason to be--when I was younger.

As fun as it all was, though, I would never go back. There were a lot of ups and downs, the normal kind that come with growing up and being a teenager. There are always hard parts of life, in every phase of life. There were things about middle school that were really difficult. There were parts of high school that I hated. There are times, as a young single adult trying to get through college, when it felt like the world was ending. And during all of those phases of life, there were on-top-of-the-world, this-is-the-best-day-of-my-life, I-never-want-this-phase-end moments.

Those phases are now done. I have a lot of good memories to look back on and I can still remember how hard it was sometimes. Now that I'm a little older, though, I keep remembering something that my EFY director told us one year:

He said, essentially, that he were to pick his top ten best moments--the best moments of his entire life--they would have all happened after he was our age. I loved that. You hear all the time, "High school was the best time of my life," or "My college years were the best years of my life!" That's a little depressing, if you think about it. For me, high school wasn't that great. I made some wonderful memories along the way, but I wasn't really sad to leave it behind and I wouldn't ever want to go back. So sitting in that chapel, hearing him tell me that the best was yet to come really gave me hope.

So I want to tell you, wherever you are in your journey when you read this: life just gets better. Enjoy where you are now, but know that the bad parts of life, the hard things, don't last. Just wait. There are moments ahead that will make it all worth it.

Moments like,

Holding your daughter in your arms for the first time.

Sitting in the celestial room, holding hands with the one you love on your wedding day.

Taking your last test in school and knowing you accomplished something.

Seeing your husband play with your baby and your baby give him a huge grin back.

These moments are all yet to come for you, or at least, moments like them. I look around at my life right now and see the good and the bad. It's hard, taking care of an infant while Ben is working full time, going to school, and getting his business going. This is a very busy, tiring stage of life for us. And yet, I can honestly say, I've never been happier. It's a more stable, grown up happy. And I know, Ben and I are just starting out. There are a lot more of those moments ahead for us as well.

Really, the best is yet to come.

Love,
Mom