My mother might say I had a mid-life crisis in response to what I did to celebrate my birthday:
But that is certainly not the case! If getting my nose pierced is the most wild, "rebellious" thing I do, then I don't think I my life is very crazy. I just wanted to do something fun. I still feel young, and I thought a small little nose stud thingy might help me look it too.
More important than feeling and looking young, though, is making sure I am making the most of my life. I don't know if it's because my birthday was coming up or what, but in the past several weeks I have seemingly been bombarded with conversations, video clips, verses, posts on facebook, and more about making each day count, about being prepared to die, about not having regrets when I stand before Jesus.
On my birthday, I read in Psalms:
I will thank You, Lord, with all my heart;
I will tell of all the marvelous things You have done.
I will be filled with joy because of You.
I will sing praises to Your name, O Most High.
First, they were fitting verses to read that day as we were having our house dedication that evening, celebrating all God has done to bring us to this new house and sharing our excitement about the opportunities He is giving us to make Jesus known in our new community.
Second, as I begin another year, I like to look back and remember the ways God has blessed me and worked in my life, guiding and directing my steps, showing me the perfect plans He has just for me. As I do that, I can't help but want to do just as David wrote there in Psalm 9, "I will tell of all the marvelous things You have done."
I want to take the time to do just that and thought since I turned 30, I should be able to come up with at least 30 "marvelous things" God has done this past year.
In no particular order, but rather just as they come to mind:
1. He brought the right people to buy our "old" house at the right time
2. He worked out all the details so we could buy our new house at a great price -- our monthly payment is actually LESS now that it was in our "old" and much smaller house!!!!
3. We were able to meet the previous owners of our house when we did our final walk through. During that time, they not only showed us how some of the things around the house worked, but left us some TV mounts, a DVD player, a CD player, an office chair, and some other random things!
4. The girls have adjusted without any problem to our new house
5. We have met some of the neighbors and are starting to build some great relationships
6. One of our neighbors came to play group on Friday, with her three kiddos. Coralyn actually has friends her age!!! That live right across the street!
7. This new friend has volunteered to watch my girls if I have to leave for one of my doula clients
8. I have all my spots filled for daycare come August/January. God is so good to provide!
9. The families I work for are great, pay on time, pick up their kids before 5, and provide adult conversation for me at the end of the day :)
10. The daycare kids and my girls have a blast playing together every day
11. My girls and Lawrence and I have all been pretty healthy this year, despite flu season and working with kids all the time
12. Since eliminating gluten from my diet, I have more energy and feel so much better
13. Lawrence has another guy on his team at school. Plus, Mitch is a Christian. This has been Lawrence's best year yet. I love seeing him excited to go to work again!
14. Lawrence is working to finish up his grad school classes. God has provided the funds and the time for Lawrence to take these classes.
15. We have about 10-15 kiddos come to our Ponca Bible study every week
16. Coralyn gets so excited to go to Bible study and church. She loves to read her Bible and is soaking up everything we are teaching her about Jesus. I love her tender heart.
17. Kellah is becoming quite the helper, taking notice of what others around her need and doing her best to get it for them
18. God has provided childbirth students -- 9 so far this year and 3 more signed up for future classes
19. God has provided doula clients -- at least 5 from January until July!
20. God has given me a new opportunity through It Works to do something else I am passionate about -- health and wellness
21. We so enjoy our church family -- from our small group we see every week to the people we see every once in a while at services on the weekend
22. We have been blessed with great friends and are making new ones through the Ponca ministry and in our new neighborhood
23. We have been blessed with great families
24. We had lots of people come help us move, so many that I got overwhelmed and ordered too much pizza (like 2x as much as I neeed)
25. Someone paid for our roof at our old house so we could put it on the market
26. I was able to run in a 5K last fall as a result of feeling better and have exercising regularly since then
27. I have signed up to run in another 5K this summer with some friends -- the Color Run
28. Lawrence and I have been married for 5.5 years and still love each, more even!
29. God has kept us safe (we take that so for granted)
30. We have a creek in our back yard (well, right behind the fence), so we can live in the city but still have that country feel. Like a slice of Ponca right here in KC, MO!
Well, that's just 30 of the marvelous things God has done in my life since last March. I could definitely think of more, but Coralyn wants me to do something with her.
I don't want to stop thinking about God's work in my life or sharing with others how He is at work. I want to make sure that I am telling people about Him EVERY day. I want to be intentional about praising God and letting others know how wonderful He is. I want others to be drawn to Jesus because of my life.
That's my overarching goal for this next year.
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