I turned 24 this week and there was nothing really special about it except the year it represented. All the years before has a lot of meaning behind them. When you turn 16, its a license, 18, means your an adult, 21 means you can drink, not that any of us would do that!! And then the next few years seem to blur, but its in these years that real growth takes place. In the past year so much growth has taken place in my life that I scarcely know where to begin. My sweet family made this birthday so incredible that as I look around at them and the experiences of the past year I am forced to say that I am now grateful for the growing pains. I got a present every day for a week before my birthday from David, they were all small with the exception of a few, but by the end of the week as I looked each day at how much thought he had put into what I wanted and how much better he knew me this year that the last I was so blown away. Things I had only mentioned once he had really listened to and heard my heart on. By the time my birthday came I felt like royalty and was floating on air! We got up on my birthday, went to lunch and then I went and spent some quality time in my in-laws pool, just me and Melanie's dog Betsey. Its funny, how this year my birthday fell on a wednesday and all those closest to me either had to work, or were out of town so I sat by myself and let the pool relax me to the point of falling asleep.
When I woke up I was so relaxed and the water was so warm that I just began to talk to God as I never had before. After months of asking him to hear me, of asking to hear him, of feeling so much and so little all at the same time there was a settling in my spirit as I looked back with the Lord on what he had brought me through in my 23rd year and it is a miraculous testimony to his love, kindness, and ability to bring me back time and again from the worst of pits. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the Lord's presence, as I floated around the pool not caring which way I floated and then I looked up and it was as though the sky was split strait down the middle. One side was gorgeous clear blue with puffy white clouds, while the other was dark gray with looming dark clouds heavy with rain. Normally I would be upset, but I had been in the sun for several hours and though the clouds were moving in the air had cooled and my face had stopped burning. So, I just smiled and realized the beauty of this situation. It was perfect symbolism for my year. I has so many storms that loomed overhead, chilling the air and threatening to ruin what I wanted. But, in the end, I still had a beautiful time, a beautiful story and through it all I could feel the warmth of the Son on my face. I even got a little color/burn on my cheeks, even if I did have to reapply sunscreen twice, after all, the enemy doesn't fight fair, but God always shines through in the end.
