My 30th year

Getting older has never made me nervous.

Or at least not since I found the person I want to grow old with.

 

I love thinking about growing older with Steven.  We like to joke about who we’ll get to be.  Him, the gruff old man in suspenders with his pipe, tending the garden.  Me, long white braids, flannel skirts and sweaters with wolves on them, knitting and crocheting our home spun wool from our sheep grazing in the pasture beyond our back porch.

But looking at my daughters, I can't help but think of all that is in front of them and all that they will go through before they are here...at 30.

 And so celebrating my 30th birthday, there are some things I would like to share.

So my Girls,

Stay open to people and experiences placed in your path. They may help you achieve your dreams and even ones greater than you imagined.

When you go through times where you feel pressure to perform and may even start feeling that you need to earn God's favor.  Trust His love for you.  You can question, be confused, confront, and be real.  But He is there and He passionately adores you.

While degrees and plans and jobs and careers are great, those are not the only reasons why we learn and grow and stretch as people.  To learn a new skill or craft just because, is as good a reason as any.  Don't be afraid to simply create.

And though you will make your own paths, in the years to come I hope to sit and share with you mine.

How I questioned and made mistakes. How I was lonely and fearful, joy-filled and awe struck.  How I traveled, followed dreams, achieved some and was let down by some.  How I’ve been proud of myself and deeply ashamed. How I was enriched by the lives of strangers, and changed forever by people who crossed my paths for only brief periods.  Built friendships that will last forever, and had my heart broken by others. 

But on this day, a day after I celebrated 30 years, I stand here and can say with certainty, with whole hearted belief, with passionate conviction, that here is what I know to be true:

God is faithful.  When you are not, HE is.  When you question, HE remains the same.  The Author of your life will never turn His back on you.  And HE is good.  Given back to God, your life will be beautiful.  In ways you cannot imagine.  And it doesn’t take the big and dramatic, although it certainly can.  But He will take the simple and ordinary of life and make it exquisite and rich.  He will take your sorrows and struggles and lead you to peace.  And God does this, even when you doubt that HE can.

And that is how you can end up celebrating your 30th year with your best friend, the coolest toddler ever and the sweetest baby on earth, and are unable to think of even one thing you wish were different.

So here is to a humbled and thankful remembrance of my first 30 and a giddy excitement for the next.