29

Yep, today I'm 29. Hard to believe, maybe not for you - but for me. And yet, not hard to believe. It's been a good day. I don't believe in working on your birthday - so I took the day off. Liliana and I had a lazy morning and then a friend took me out to lunch...really, I think she just wanted to see Liliana! :) Then we went to where we use to work together to visit everyone. Came home and Evan brought dinner home. Had a nice relaxing evening and here I am. What all can I say about being 29, how about 29 random things, some reflections if you will:

1. I've learned what hairstyle I should have and I'm not going to change it again anytime soon - maybe the color. But that's all. I feel like myself.

2. I've learned to find my identity in Christ alone.

3. I've learned my relationship with God is my own and I am responsible for it. I had to make my faith and my beliefs my own, and now I need to build my relationship with God as I do with my husband or best friend - it takes time, effort, good times and tough times, passion and love.

4. I've learned there are only a handful of friends around me that will last a lifetime that I can trust my life with.

5. I've learned, and I know my family will always be there for me.

6. I've experienced love in a brand new way since having Liliana.

7. I'm striving each day to become a Proverbs 31 woman - and that, I believe, is just partly what a Proverbs 31 woman is - continually seeking to become that.

8. I've learned you have to stick up for yourself and those you love.

9. I am actually reading books, for my own pleasure - strange.

10. I became anal (sorry, best word to describe it) in college. I went home for break and came back changed. Don't know what happened.

11. I am organized and like to organize things. (Tupperware bins are a splendid organizing tool!)

12. Writing is a lost art. Writing letters is almost unheard of. The internet can be so impersonal and is often used for personal things at the wrong time.

13. I believe that I could truly be diagnosed with OCD - not to an extreme form - but I have it. There are things I do that consist with the nature of someone who has OCD that people don't see and therefore think I am kidding when I say this.

14. I don't complain about the seasons because I find each of them beautiful, a work of God's Hands - a change of pace...and I'm choosing to live where we have seasons.

15. I am an optimistic to the core.

16. The Lord has provided for me countless times. (Yet, when the same situation arises...I worry again knowing He always took care of it. Lesson to be learned here???)

17. I'm not going to lie, I don't want to be a working mom. I just want to be a mom. But, I'm thankful to have a job that allows me to help provide for my family.

18. I never thought I would enjoy being a mom as much as I do. Now, to master it.

19. I don't know why I'm waiting to follow through on what I believe the Lord is calling me to do, maybe it's laziness. Maybe it's not quite sure how to go about doing it. Maybe it's the unknown. I guess, without making excuses, it's plain disobedience. And part of not following through - is not telling what it is I think He's calling me to do.

20. I believe the Lord has given me a special gift that I'm not always sure I want. I'm not even sure why He's given it to ME. Sometimes I don't know what to do with it. Either way, when the Spirit speaks, I've learned to listen and respond. (still, I am a sinner and don't always do this)

21. Women are lucky - Our husband's are our best friends, and then we have our girlfriends who are our best friends too! (how else could we put up with our husbands!?)

22. I'm trying to figure out what I would have to blog about for people who don't know me, to read my blog on a daily basis.

23. My daughter is the luckiest baby there is, surrounded by so many people who love her and who will always be there for her. People who are praying for her. And because she spends 5 out of 7 days with family. She'll be close to her cousins, hopefully they will be her best friends. And I believe her Auntie can teach her so much more than I can! (she is a teacher, and she has 3 of the smartest kids I know!)

24. My daughter has taught me more about myself in the past 8 months (without speaking a word) than some people who talk to me.

25. Isaiah 40:31. A favorite Bible verse of mine. Go read it for yourself. In a Bible. It's good to actually open His Word and read it for yourself!

26. I'm 29 and am content. The Lord has given me so much to be thankful for, so many blessings. I probably don't even see all the blessings He has laid out for me.

27. I still feel like I'm a little kid - a teenager, not an adult.

28. Even when I think I'm going to be late - I end up on time, go figure. It is as if I cannot be late. (even though it has and does happen!)

29. I am the Lord's, and that is really all that really matters.

Me & Liliana taken about a week ago