{"id":622,"date":"2013-03-13T06:51:01","date_gmt":"2013-03-13T13:51:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nickduffel.com\/?p=622"},"modified":"2013-03-13T06:51:01","modified_gmt":"2013-03-13T13:51:01","slug":"10-things-i-would-tell-my-younger-self-100th-post","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nickduffel.com\/?p=622","title":{"rendered":"10 things I would tell my younger self [100th post]"},"content":{"rendered":"<body><p><\/p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nickduffel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/253_0330969309194aa2l-1.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-623\" alt=\"253_0330969309194aa2L\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nickduffel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/253_0330969309194aa2l-1.jpg?resize=300%2C132\" width=\"300\" height=\"132\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/a>\n<h3>This is my 100th post on nickduffel.com!<\/h3>\n<p>What does that mean, you ask?<\/p>\n<p>Well, first watch this video:<\/p>\n<div class=\"nv-iframe-embed\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/QAvcWr5gFeA?version=3&amp;rel=1&amp;showsearch=0&amp;showinfo=1&amp;iv_load_policy=1&amp;fs=1&amp;hl=en-US&amp;autohide=2&amp;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"line-height:1.5;font-style:inherit;\">This humorous video got me thinking, what would I tell my younger self who is just heading into ministry, and starting a family? \u00a0In celebration of my 100th post, here are the top 10 things I\u2019d tell myself, in no particular order.<\/span><\/p>\n<h1>1<\/h1>\n<p>The closer you stick to God, the better husband, father, servant, and leader you will be.\u00a0 Cultivate your relationship with God even if there are other, urgent things to do.\u00a0 Nothing is more vital or urgent than spending time in prayer and seeking.<\/p>\n<h1>2<\/h1>\n<p>Your wife is amazing, and your greatest ally.\u00a0 Don\u2019t keep anything from her.\u00a0 Always tell the truth.<\/p>\n<h1>3<\/h1>\n<p>Have the hardest conversation first.\u00a0 If you put it off, you will never end up having it.<\/p>\n<h1>4<\/h1>\n<p>Critics come and go.\u00a0 The blessings that come from \u201cpraying and staying\u201d are a more consistent than critics.<\/p>\n<h1>5<\/h1>\n<p>Children are a gift from God.\u00a0 They are also a crucible of holiness, because parenting takes patience and consistency just like following Jesus does.<\/p>\n<h1>6<\/h1>\n<p>The Word of God can be trusted even when nothing else makes sense.<\/p>\n<h1>7<\/h1>\n<p>Some battles are worth fighting and some are not.\u00a0 Let God show you the difference.<\/p>\n<h1>8<\/h1>\n<p>People are not currency, projects, or raw material.\u00a0 People are created in the image of God.\u00a0 Every single one of them is infinitely valuable.<\/p>\n<h1>9<\/h1>\n<p>Youth ministry is a privileged and rewarding role.\u00a0 It is also full of heartache, sadness, and painful transition.\u00a0 It\u2019s all worth it.<\/p>\n<h1>10<\/h1>\n<p>Jesus loves you no matter what. \u00a0You are a forgiven, redeemed child of God. \u00a0Now, try not to be such a huge dope.<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is my 100th post on nickduffel.com! What does that mean, you ask? Well, first watch this video: This humorous video got me thinking, what would I tell my younger self who is just heading into ministry, and starting a family? \u00a0In celebration of my 100th post, here are the top 10 things I\u2019d tell&hellip;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nickduffel.com\/?p=622\" rel=\"bookmark\">Read More &raquo;<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">10 things I would tell my younger self [100th post]<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[7,13],"tags":[37,75,84,111,113,119,124,130,151,165],"class_list":["post-622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-leadership-2","category-thoughts","tag-church","tag-fear","tag-god","tag-jesus","tag-leaders","tag-marriage","tag-ministry","tag-parenting","tag-reflection","tag-scripture"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7EHHr-a2","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nickduffel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nickduffel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nickduffel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nickduffel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nickduffel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=622"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nickduffel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nickduffel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nickduffel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nickduffel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}