In less than a week on the 17th I will celebrate my 25th birthday.  When I think about turning 25 I get excited, but also edgy.  Growing up I used to dream about what I would be like when I became an adult.  Stay up late nights, parties with friends, going to different places without having to ask and one day having a man by my side to share this incredible yet challenging journey we call life.  It seemed so far as a little girl, yet here I am living that life that I used to dream about.  Making my own decisions, working to provide, having responsibilities I used to grow up and see my parents have. 

Turning 25 has a lot of emotions mixed in it, especially thinking about where my mom was at when she was my age.  And actually at the age of 25 her paradigm shifted when she gave birth to me with no husband or partner to help her out.  Left alone to care for a newborn my mom was on the path of single motherhood.  Growing up my mom showed so much love, care and devotion to me.  We were inseparable and I remember thinking how beautiful and smart she was.  I wanted to be just like her in so many ways.  Never in my life have I met a selfless woman like my mom.  She sacrificed so much to take care of me and constantly thinking of myself rather than her own needs and wants.  And through all the hardships a single mom faces she was completely devoted and still is to God.  I saw her many times sitting reading her bible, journaling or studying for a bible study.  She completely embodied the type of Godly woman that I strive for today.

In the last year life has had it’s highs and lows.  I remember the day before my 24th of reaching a point of walking into womanhood and knowing that 24 was going to be a new founding journey.  I went on my first missions trip in a while to New Orleans to serve those in need after Hurricane Katrina, I became a life group leader with two amazingly God fearing men, had my frist Christmas without my family, started the new off with a great group of friends and said good-bye to a three year relationship.  I began to dig deeper into my past and ask God to show me places in my heart that need healing which led me to begin the Sexual Assualt Woman’s Group at my church and realize so many things of what God wants to bless me with in the future concerning a mate.  In the midst of all of this I have had many friends come alongside me in my pain and weep with me, encourage me and praise me for the striving I am doing to draw closer to my Lord and what He has in store for me.

Twenty-four has been truly a stepping stone year in so many ways.  I knew it was going to be and now as I am about to turn 25 I even feel that God is saying this is going to  be a year of Jubilee.  I don’t even know that that looks like, but I feel it.  Turning 25 is huge for me, maybe because for the first time I finally feel at peace with my past, my present and my future.  I am not fretting or finding myself feel guilty for the mistakes I have made.  Instead I am embracing all that I am and although it is still a journey and a process, more than ever I am confident that through everything I have done and have gone through God is completely satisfied in who I am.  There is nothing that brings our Heavenly Father joy when we allow ourselves to accept all that He has made us, our imperfections and our strengths.  He has made everything beautiful in it’s time.

Thank you Lord for another year of accomplishment and I wait for another year of hope and confidence that near or far you are with me, together we are making your name famous.