The Year of "Go!"

Today I was thinking to myself, I wonder what I usually write about on my blog around birthday time. And that right there reminded that I am indeed getting older. 

My 29th birthday is tomorrow, and I've been celebrating hard for a week now. Last Thursday night I took off for the folks' place for some mama-daughter shop and eat retreat time, something that has become something of an annual tradition. This year, it was Williamsburg and Iowa City shopping followed by the Lincoln Cafe for dinner. Then Derrick came down and my parents came up for a play day including Sunday brunch, apple orchards, and the perfect weather for some romping and picnicking in the Mines of Spain. It was such a great weekend to kick off birthday week. 

But unfortunately, the calendar didn't know it was my birthday, and the week at work hit me hard. Projects stacked up, deadlines loomed, and I even had a mini meltdown last night. Poor Derrick was the recipient of that episode. 

But now that I've made it nearly through the week, just one short work day left in front of me, I can look back and remember that even though the week wasn't perfect, it still was sure good. I am blessed to have a career to pour myself into that I love, a man who loves me even when I make life miserable, family that I can enjoy and spend time with, and enough projects to keep me moving my whole life. This is good stuff, people. This is blessing. 

It always seems that we're just waiting, right? Just waiting until we've got life all together. Just waiting to be an adult, or waiting for that big promotion, or waiting for Mr. Right to come along. Some things we must wait on, and they can be worth the wait. And some things depend on God's timing rather than our own. But I think that far too often, we find ourselves waiting on the wrong things because frankly we won't ever have it all together or be perfectly financially stable or win the lottery... But life can be so good without those things. So let's blow past all those things we're waiting on but won't ever necessarily come true. Let's live into the blessings we've been given despite all those things we're waiting for. 

In that spirit, I deem tomorrow the first day of the year of "Go!" It is not the year of "Wait" or the year of "Caution" or the year of "Get it all Together". Messy, wild, crazy, filled with ups and downs, bold, emotional, adventurous, brimming with blessings, not always perfect. That's my 29th year. The year of "Go!"