Yesterday I entered my 29th year. Believe it or not, I love getting older. Against the general human populace, I believe age holds holds the most valued gift – wisdom and wholeness. Maybe I strive to make up for the teen years of self-absorption, or simply want scale the heights of Maslow’s pyramid. I know that stacking life upon life will get me closer to the person that I want to be. This birthday I feel that people were lending me the building blocks I needed to get a little closer. The last couple weeks I have been flooded with such love, generosity and encouragement that it didn’t even phase me when on Wednesday, a look of horror on my sweet husband’s face made me realize that he had forgotten that my birthday was the next day. I was so saturated with the empowering sense of love and belonging that yesterday I felt joyfully whole. (And in case you were curious, my handsome husband spoiled me with a lovely dinner date and the gift of future pampering, so don’t chastise him after reading this!) Everything, big and small, has felt like a precious gift especially designed for me. I have been counting the gifts and feel so abundantly blessed this month. I recently ended a stressful 10hr per week job and started nannying 30-35 hours a week. Nothing can compare to the mental relief of less stress and the emotional relief of being able to be with my daughter while bringing in some income for our family. I finally received maternity insurance so that I have health coverage for the prenatal care and birth of our second child. And with some generous help from my parents, we are able to spend Christmas with my family in Pennsylvania. I would say we are wrapped in a warm, comforting hug of family and friendship and God’s sweet grace. ‘Tis the season to be 29 and joyful.
Acts 4:32-33
~lr
