Twenty-five

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Guys, I'm getting old. Maybe not as old as this guy and his white whiskers, but definitely old. This week I turn twenty-five. And in honor of this event, I would like to follow in the steps of my friend Victoria {who is mom to newly-born Carson --> birth story!} and list 25 things I've learned in 25 years of being alive. These are in no particular order and are definitely still being learned all the time. Without further ado,

1. Everything is a story to be laughed at. Get to the laughter point sooner than later.
   
2. Sisters make the best of friends.
   
3. Best friends make the best of flatmates.
   
4. God can be trusted all the time with anything. He can handle it.
   
5. Goals are good, but they exist to make life better; life does not exist only in accomplishing goals.
   
6. I don't have to live in the same state as someone to keep growing our friendship.
   
7. Massages are gifts straight from the Lord above.
   
8. It is perfectly acceptable and even admirable to admit when I'm struggling and to ask for help.
   
9. Character counts.
   
10. I don't have to be the best of buds with every person I meet, but I should be a good friend to them.
    
11. I make mistakes. I have made them and I will continue to make them, and God keeps loving me.
    
12. Find a swimsuit that works with you and then work that swimsuit. Heck to the yes.
    
13. Just because nail polish stays on your toes forever does not mean that you should leave it on forever.
    
14. There is nothing like the hope that is found in Jesus.
    
15. Personality types are wonderful, but I don't have to fit perfectly into any "type."
    
16. God's "no" means that something better is coming... I don't have to see it now to trust His answer.
    
17. Life is very different from how I pictured it in my head, and that's okay.
    
18. If there's something I want to do or see, I should just go for it and make it happen.
    
19. Flexibility is key.
    
20. Invest in good chocolate. I recommend sea salt.
    
21. Sometimes talking with your bestie and getting "nothing" done is the best thing to do.
    
22. Don't judge someone by what you think is their life story.
    
23. If it's British television, a) I will watch it and b) at least one actor will be from Doctor Who.
    
24. Listening is important.
    
25. It is ok to not finish a book that is not worth your time; find one {or six} that are.

There you have it, folks. 25 life lessons from an almost-25-year-old. Enjoy!

Listen

Ah, Friday...usually the easiest day of the week, at least for us office-dwellers. But since prayer is not limited to the office, I'm not surprised that today's theme is probably the hardest for me to grasp. I think the Lord is saying today is a day of listening.

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Listening to the Lord is hard for me. I'm a doer, so I'd much rather be praying and interceding. Listening involves waiting and silence and focus {ha, good thing we've already practiced that theme, right?}, and that is a difficult practice for me. Yes, it is a practice and yes, I probably should practice it more. So guess what I'll be doing today? :)

I'm listening for answers, for direction, for encouragement. I'm listening to hear God's voice deep in my being. I'm listening like Samuel; I want my answer to be "Speak, for your servant is listening."

Unity

Tonight my church and our two "sister churches" will be coming together for a night of worship and prayer. I have been looking forward to tonight since they announced it several weeks ago. When the Body of Christ comes together in worship, big things happen. It makes sense; Jesus told us that when we are gathered together in His Name, He is with us {Matthew 18:20}. So today, with this evening in mind, I'm praying for unity.

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I'm praying specifically for my church families tonight, that we would honor and love one another. I'm praying that relationships will be strengthened and hearts joined.I'm praying for Holy Spirit to move powerfully and direct the worship leaders. 

Also, I'm praying for unity in the Body of Christ. No matter if you're Baptist, Evangelical, Presbyterian, or Lutheran, or if you are Catholic or Protestant, our Church needs to grow in unity so we can grow our witness. 

Jesus told His disciples that the world would know us by our love, and unity is one of the fruits of love {so is poetry, of a fine stout love...sorry, P & P reference!}. I'm praying that believers can walk more closely with each other. 

I'm not saying that we don't need to discuss theology or that anything goes; I'm saying we should try and focus on the things upon which we agree. Let's let Jesus be our standard and guide. 

Healing

Are you okay if I keep sharing prayer themes? They are personal and vulnerable, but they also hold me accountable and help me process what God is highlighting. Hope you don't mind :)

The Lord gave me today's focus last night: healing. I know so many people, including myself, in need of physical, spiritual, emotional, mental, and relational healing, and today they are all on my heart.

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So today I'm crying out to the Lord for my friends and family. I'm praying for the presence of Jesus to flood and surround these specific people:

• C and her family
• R and her family
• A and her family
• the CCU community

Will you pray with me?

Finish This

Jen is such a gift! Right when I'm thinking "I should blog but I forget how," she posts this lovely little link-up that has the prompts. All I have to do is finish the story. Pressure = gone.

I first felt like a grown up when I got my first job that was not babysitting. The summer before my senior year of high school, I applied to work in a Christian bookstore, and while on a youth retreat, I got a phone call from them. I was hired! Such a cool feeling.

I am one-of-a-kind because I have a passionate love for my Wat Bot. Seriously, my water bottle is with me more than my bff is with me, and that's a lot because we live together. If you want to know the full story of my Wat Bot, here ya go.

Spanx is a life saver... and the one item of clothing that my mom steals from me. Samara and I were just discussing how some outfits give you confidence while others require confidence to pull off. Spanx is basically instant confidence!

My favorite family tradition is opening pajamas on Christmas Eve, after listening to days and weeks of my parents telling us "you're not getting pajamas this year. You're too old." Yeah, right, Mom and Pops, yeah, right :)

The last thing I do before bed is put on chapstick. I've weaned myself to not really use it during the day {these winter-y months are challenging my resolve, though!}, but I put it on at night after brushing my teeth. So soothing!

Happiness is laughter with all 4 sisters home. Staying up waaaaay too late talking with the bestie. Stories in the round. A good hair day. Painted toenails. Visiting my favorite Southern state. Painted nails. Phone dates. A new book.

And that does it! How would you finish these prompts?

Link up here!

Focus

Call me whatever you want to call me, but I love traditions. Traditions remind me of the things that have value, because if something doesn't have value, it won't {or shouldn't} last very long.

Maybe this doesn't count as a tradition, but in some ways it feels like one, so here goes. For the past several years, my church has set aside the first full week in January as a week for prayer and fasting. This year things have been adjusted and we're fasting and praying Tuesday through Saturday instead of the whole week, but I think the different length will help/is helping us to go deeper. It's a brief drilling down deep, instead of an extended trough.

This month {ha, all seven days of it!} there are a few big things I'm praying about and asking God for revelation, and I'm really grateful for this short intense time of prayer and fasting. I think some great breakthroughs are coming, and I'm excited to see God move!

The Lord has already given me a theme for this year, but He's also emphasizing a different theme for each day of fasting and praying, too. This thrills me, because I find it's so much easier to pray specific, targeted prayers. Which, ironically or not, is tied to today's theme. Today, the theme is focus.

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Today I'm focusing my prayers on:

• the next step in life
• goals {10 years, 5 years, 1 year}
• growth, healing, reconciliation in my church body

Hopefully I'll get my life together and share the next 4 themes with you this week. That would be something, to look back at the end of 2014 and say "Here is the specific fruit of these specific prayers!" I'm looking forward to that :)

Let's Look Back at 2013

Happy 2014!

It seems that the general consensus is that 2013 was a more challenging year and that 2014 is primed for something new and different and amazing. I for one agree wholeheartedly and am looking forward to all that the Lord is going to do and reveal this year!

I thought it would be fun to review some highlights of 2013 before jumping in to 2014. So here goes: the highs and lows of 2013!

January: I was living with my maternal grandparents and laughing my socks off at their antics {example 1 & example 2}. Here are my blogging goals for 2013, and here is a recap of Laurie and my adventure with ice skating. Also, I started watching Doctor Who...I definitely did not imagine getting SO sucked in to the Who-niverse!

February: Samara and I started planning in earnest to get a place together. I also got really excited to move home, and so I packed my suitcase a month before leaving.

March: a high was seeing The Lion King with Laurie. So so wonderful. A low was my grandpa passing away. Another high was moving home!

April: I got settled at home and we had a memorial service for my grandpa.

May: I got to visit Laurie in Texas for one week and then got to visit my Kentucky families the next. There were also many viewings of British shows.

June: Nothing big happened in June, but there were several Funny Fridays! Check out Thing One, Thing Two, Thing Three, and Thing Four for laughs and eye rolls.

July: Easily summarized into one word: NICARAGUA! First post, second post, third post, fourth post. Boom. Yet July kept on being amazing. Samara and I found a place to move into and we signed the papers and we shared our announcement with much rejoicing.

August: Augh! So much fun! First of all, we moved! Secondly, Dahlia and I went to Prince Edward Island! Here the compiled travel journal, pictures included. Enjoy. Thirdly, August is Family Camp, which didn't get its own post but is always a highlight of the year.

September: Samara and I said goodbye to the Tenth Doctor. Laurie came to visit {although I failed to blog very much about that}, and my condo was invaded.

October: Wow, 31 Days of Writing kind of took over the blog! Here are some non-fictional-but-still-creative highlights: settling into the condo more, hanging pictures on my bedroom wall, having Jamey visit, and watching Danny Boyle's Frankenstein with friends on Halloween, dressed as Fantastic Mr. Fox characters {Halloween summary}.

November: had a wonderful experience with one of my CareNet clients! This story has changed my life, I think. On a lighter note, the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who was quite lovely and wonderful {sorry, I blogged about it in December even though it aired in November}. November was apparently a month for me to recognize my own maturity {which therefore proves my immaturity, right?}, because I blogged about it not once but twice.

December: Samara and I had a great adventure getting our Christmas tree. I spent several nights at my parents' house {and subsequently forgot how to blog}. Also, I learned am learning how to process feelings as a Thinker {the T in my Meyers-Briggs personality of ESTJ}, which has been a challenging but still positive experience.

2013 was wonderful and hard and exciting and stretching. Definite highs, obvious lows, and everything in between. But as Samara noted here, I'd rather have the highs and the lows than the safe mediocrity of middle ground.

2014, I'm excited to see what highs and lows you hold!