A Letter To Me

I'm currently taking a composition class (it's reignited my love for writing and english, which is great, but not the point), and we had a prompt given to us for a writing exercise the other day that still...haunts me, if that's the right word.
We were told to think back to when we were sixteen years old. Think of how much/little we knew of life and the world back then. And then think of ourselves now. How much knowledge of life we have gained in that period of time. Taking this new knowledge, we were to compose three paragraphs of thought to our sixteen-year-old selves explaining one aspect of life we have a better grasp on now than we did then. It wasn't supposed to be advice or regret, just knowledge.

So my letter to a sixteen-year-old Kaitlyn was filled with regret and advice and little-to-no knowledge.

What knowledge can you really gain about the world in four years time? Because when I look back I see that nothing has changed, but everything is different. And maybe I am a little bit wiser or understanding in the ways the world and its people work in some areas, but with every piece of knowledge I gain about this life I am filled with infinitely more questions about it.
I'm not cynical. I'm not all doom and gloom, but how can I possibly begin to understand a world that has been at war for almost half my life? How can I comprehend a world that begs us to be ourselves, but only if everyone else approves? How can I say I have gained any knowledge of this world and this life in the last four years when I still have so many questions about what has happened over that period of time?

Abuse, suicide, heartbreak, betrayal it's all as fresh to me now as the day it happened. And I am not any wiser on the things that transpired at sixteen than I was at that time. But I do know this:
I know that God never appoints a fire unless He can bring beauty from the ashes. 
And I know that truth beyond a shadow of a doubt because I am evidence of it. I am evidence of a loving God. I am evidence of a Healer. I am evidence of a Redeemer. I am evidence of a catastrophe that the Lord is making right. I am evidence that all God does calls us back to Him.

In other news I am a knitting wizard. But I only know one stitch. but i'm really, really good at that one stitch. 

AND I got my Warby Parker at-home try on kit yesterday. I love glasses. like, a lot. 

So here's a little picture of what I'll be doing at work for the next two hours:

Like my frames?! I'm OBSESSED. Thanks Warby Parker!!!