it's a great day to be alive

I'm 26 today!

TWENTY-SIX!

That's insane.

Insane!

I feel like a six-year-old pretending to be 26. Should I really be driving? What about working? How is it possible that I hold down a full-time job? Am I old enough to take my birth year off of public postings? Should I be ashamed to be over a quarter of a century?

I remember being 16 and thinking that anyone over 20 was old, boring and responsible - ugh.

Maybe I still think that...only I'm not (responsible anyway).

I'm not sure I want to be twenty-six.

Does anyone know where the rewind button is?

If I could find it I might go back to several moments over the last twenty-six years and hit replay. Not because I want to change anything, but to relive all the great, exciting moments.

That said, if given a remote I'm pretty sure I would hit replay to my twenty-sixth year over and over again.

It's been a ride. With high highs and low lows, excitements and disappointments, I have enjoyed being challenged to know who I am and why I am who I am. I have enjoyed learning about God's love for me when I mostly never deserve it.

In year twenty-six:

I've traveled A LOT.

I've been tempted to move A LOT, but decided to stay.

I've discovered new gifts and hobbies, and I've prefected old ones.

I've made new friends (young and old).

I've had heartache and had to say goodbye.

I've settled, stabilized and found a home.

My family's grown - a dog and a new brother

I've been encouraged, loved, built-up and supported like never before. 

As I sit here, today, a mature twenty-six year old (ha!), all I know is that it's good I'm not in control. I might have written it differently had I been given the pen. In the end, though, I'm so much more pleased with the story God's given me than the one I would have made.

As much as I'd love to hit rewind and replay, I'm way too fired up about my twenty-seventh year to go back.

Thanks, Lord, for your faithfulness to know me better than I will EVER EVER know myself. You're way way too good to me!