I love looking through old photo albums. There is something amazing, yet kind of sad, about looking back through my past. My mom keeps shelves of photo albums, and every once in a while, we'll sit on the floor, flipping through them all, reminiscing about old times. My Aunt Pearl always kept small photo albums on her coffee table, and every time we visited her, we would look through them sprawled out on the living room carpet, oohing over the cute little faces of our past. That was just something we always did, no matter what. Many people own photo albums, but we don't always have time to look through them. Take time to look through your old photo albums to reminisce with your family of how your lives used to be, of how cute you were when you were little, of how much you've changed, of how innocent and oblivious you were to your future, or of things you might need to change about your life in the present. Looking through old photo albums...

I see the person who didn't care what people thought.

Now, I am a person who cares way too much about what people, even my family, think of me and my life. The only person I need to please is Jesus. All of the rest do not matter. When you are younger, you are not influenced by social media or the public as much as when you are older. You don't have to worry about pleasing people. You just get to be yourself, with rules to follow from your parents and an early bedtime (boy, do I love early bedtimes now).

I see the person who loves with no judgement.

I try to love unconditionally now, but when you are younger, you just love people no matter what. You don't think about who they are, what they do, what they've done to you, or their sins. You just love, like Jesus does and like we should love always, not just when we are young and oblivious.

I see a family together.

I see my loved ones who have passed away, full of life and love.

It is always so good to see the family members who have passed away. I get to see how they were when they were happy and not sick. I get to see myself hugging them and see their sweet smiles.

I see a person who has her whole life ahead of her.

Life goes by so fast, and that is so clear when looking through old photo albums.

I see a person who has no idea of what she will be doing at the age I am now.

As a kid, I didn't know I would be about to become a nurse and married at my age. That girl in middle school never dreamed she would have already met her future husband and would be dating him in her freshman year, only to marry him six years later.

I see a person who has no idea of who she will be at my age.

Through the years, the events, people around me, Jesus in my heart, and my choices have molded me into the person I am today. Looking through the photo albums, I see myself changing in physical appearance, but I know in my heart all of the emotional changes that occurred, making me who I am now.

I see a person who has no idea of all the wonderful things she will experience and of how great life can be.

God has given us a full, blessed life, and I have only experienced 21 years of it. I can't wait to see what my future holds.

Take a moment to look through old photo albums. It's always fun to see old pictures of yourself. You never know what revelation you might have.

Remember that you have a clean slate, a clean page in the photo album, to display the rest of your story. We have the rest of our lives ahead of us and a thousand photo albums to fill. So make each moment count!