What Another Birthday Taught Me
Another 365 days. Another 525,600 minutes. Another trip around the sun.
Birthdays mean we are blessed. So very blessed. Another breath and another day to celebrate all of the gifts God has given us.
Though most of us don’t want to admit the numbers, for getting older can be hard and scary. Do you remember what it was like as a child? Planning your birthday party and being excited when your best friends showed up to spend time with you? Eating cake and playing while your heart felt so content?
Yeah, reminiscing is so sweet.
Sitting back and looking at the past year has my heart feeling full and looking ahead with hope and anticipation for a new year. I’m filled with gratitude for lessons learned and the ways that God has been at work over the past year.
When your next birthday comes around, I challenge you to make a list. Don’t be so caught up in the numbers that you’re afraid to look back in order to look ahead. God is always at work; we must be aware to look for the details. I’m not asking you to make a list of randomness or goals that you may not be able to keep. Rather a list that looks back at what you’ve been learning and a couple of things to hold onto for the new year ahead of you.
Here’s a little look into what I’ve been taking note of lately and what I’m focusing on for the new year.
My word for the new year: Aware.
Why did I choose a word? I’m writing it when I plan each week to keep me focused. To remind me what matters. To keep me grounded. I want to be aware of not only the small blessings around me, the people in my life worth loving and cherishing time with, and the ways that God is actively at work. I want to be aware, and I want to be present.
My verse for the new year: Numbers 23:19 NIV - God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?
If God says it, He will do it. This verse serves as a reminder of that. God is always faithful.
Here are the top lessons I have learned in year thirty-two as I prepare for year thirty-three.
I am going to be okay.
Not every day may be easy, but I can find something good each day. God is with me and guides my steps.
Giving myself grace is key.
Showing myself kindness is godly. Believing and loving myself is my highway to being successful.
God always has a plan.
I have faced grief and heartache over this last year. I faced difficulties within my family and health scares. Lost my spiritual father figure unexpectedly. Left a job that I loved, to embrace new lessons and skills outside of my comfort zone. Learned to embrace healthy boundaries and challenged myself to embrace the healing journey. God has been my true constant.
Relationships have been vital.
My closest family and friends have been my biggest supporters. Encouraging me to follow my dreams, keeping me grounded when anxious thoughts creep up, and most importantly they have loved me more than I have deserved. I cherish them and love them so much.
Dreams are meant to be chased.
What is the purpose of dreaming if we don’t step out of our comfort zone to go after them? There is a unique dream tucked inside each of us. May we be ever so brave as to jump out and embrace it.
I’ve been blown away by spending time reflecting on the goodness of God. I will be the first to admit that life is hard, but I will also shout out loud that my God always comes through.
Opening my spiritual father figure’s Bible after his death, I was in shock at God. He ALWAYS comes through for me, and at this particular moment, I was not too busy to notice. I opened up the book to Ecclesiastes, chapter three.
The passage opens up talking about seasons. How there is a time and purpose for each and everything. That was what my time reflecting was about. God had been speaking and sharing with me that even though there has been great difficulty I have faced, there has also been a great joy and great hope.
Now tell me God doesn’t come through. Sometimes it is very clear, while other times it can be soft and subtle. God is up to doing big things in my life and I believe He will do the same for you. If I have learned anything this past year, it is to be thankful. As I step into a new year, I hope to live each day with gratitude. If anything becomes of this blog, I pray that you will choose to see each day with gratitude. Find one positive thing each day and in time you will see God’s goodness everywhere you look.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-15 MSG
There’s an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth:
A right time for birth and another for death, A right time to plant and another to reap, A right time to kill and another to heal, A right time to destroy and another to construct, A right time to cry and another to laugh, A right time to lament and another to cheer, A right time to make love and another to abstain, A right time to embrace and another to part, A right time to search and another to count your losses, A right time to hold on and another to let go, A right time to rip out and another to mend, A right time to shut up and another to speak up, A right time to love and another to hate, A right time to wage war and another to make peace.
But in the end, does it really make a difference what anyone does? I’ve had a good look at what God has given us to do—busywork, mostly. True, God made everything beautiful in itself and in its time—but he’s left us in the dark, so we can never know what God is up to, whether he’s coming or going. I’ve decided that there’s nothing better to do than go ahead and have a good time and get the most we can out of life. That’s it—eat, drink, and make the most of your job. It’s God’s gift.
I’ve also concluded that whatever God does, that’s the way it’s going to be, always. No addition, no subtraction. God’s done it and that’s it. That’s so we’ll quit asking questions and simply worship in holy fear.
Whatever was, is. Whatever will be, is. That’s how it always is with God.
