Tuesday was my 39th birthday. I made sure to let people know that I was NOT turning 40. I'm calling it "30 - The Final Chapter". Now, I am not embarrassed by my age at all. But 30 was a pretty good year so I just held on to it. For a very long time.
Someone wished me the best in this, my 40th year of life. That almost sounded a little depressing. It got me to thinking that I have been around for that amount of time and wondering what I had accomplished in it. Truth is there are some years (or portions of them) that seem to have been wasted in selfishness and pride and other years (or portions of them) that seemed to thrive as I humbled myself in obedience. Along with the victories and celebrations, there are plenty of regrets about what I "would have, could have, should have" done or said.
I find that I am easily influenced by the situations around me - weather, finances, work, emotions, people, etc. and allow external circumstances to overrule internal peace. Thankfully this is not how God works. Hebrews 13:8 says that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. I can count on Him to be consistent. Imagine what would happen if He could count on me to be consistent.
A friend had recently commented on her Facebook page about how hard it is to wait for God. I quickly agreed with her, then added later "I wonder too how He feels waiting for us. I can just imagine God thinking 'Hannah, how many times have I told you go here, do this, stop that, etc. When is it gonna happen?'"
There's a fun song by Chris Rice called Life Means So Much. You can watch a video of it with lyrics here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZbEAZ5KUM0 . It encourages us to make the most of every day. I think that's going to become my new morning prayer; thanking God for the gift of the day and asking Him to help me make the day count for Him.
My friends here did spoil me for my birthday. The other staff members took me out for a nice dinner, then back to someone's home for cake with the kids and some other friends who came over. Lots of love!
A collection of random thoughts designed to keep you up to date with what God is doing in my life!
3 comments:
Glad you had a nice birthday, Hannah. What you wrote about God waiting for us struck me; I don't know who that person was who wrote on FB about waiting for God but it truly could have been me writing it in all sincerity. I've been struggling with several somethings for a very long time and often break down, basically asking God, "What's taking You so long?!" In reality, perhaps it's not He who is taking so long to do something but it's me who He's waiting for to do something. I never thought of it like that, and I thank you for bringing it to my attention...
I started writing a reply to this but it got really long so I used it for today's post : )
I love the "30 - the final chapter", I feel like the last few chapters of 30 have been great to you and I'm glad that I've known you for most of them......hmmm wait a minute did we first met when you turned 30?? Cool deal if we did!!
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