Many times reflections start with alllll of the negatives… BUT THIS AINT 35 MM FILM… so… BLESSINGS from my thirties!
There were trips. I didn’t take many trips as a youth unless it was a school conference. Shout out to that trip to NYC in seventh grade with our intercity choir! So… my thirties held visits to friends in other cities and states. It also included some passport stamps, discovering some cool places, taking stunning hobbyist photos, and enlarging my mind.
Here is the beautiful thing about the mind, don’t read brain because they are related but not the same, once it expands…it expands. The new knowledge becomes a part of your knowing and of you! Come on. That’s exciting. (The hard part is recalling the knowledge when you want to… whew ::insert a great big exhale here::).
So the three most powerful parts of my latest decade is: The POWER of GOD in my life, people, and expansion.
If I was to string together the pieces of my testimony that steamrolled my thirties we’d have to also develop those negatives, but KNOW that I know Him. I have seen Him Move for myself. I have felt His embrace. I have prayed and He has answered. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17)… and the more you hear and study the Word, the more of God you learn. You lean into that new knowledge and in turn… activate more trust that the Bible is truth.
People. I know and have met some pretty awesome people. What I love is when I meet someone and God whispers to me that they are a gift! I’ve met musicians, politicians, artists, preachers & pastors, but the most impactful are my friends! I’m grateful for the people God’s sown into my life like seeds that bloom in DUE season.
Finally, the expansion. Mind expansion. Faith expansion. Creative expansion. Expansion of self. Knowledge expansion. Lesson expansion. I’m grateful for it.
I’ve begun to really settle into my house. I’ve been in it over a decade…but slowly I’m making changes that reflect my current pallet. My tastes are being refined. It’s the same with my life. Boundaries aren’t prisons, they are protection. The same way expansion pours in newness, it recognizes what must be pruned away or restricted. That requires a healthy perspective. Will you allow yourself to expand into your current season and assignment?
My thirties were a lot, but not perpetually bad. I am grateful for it.
Hello forties. Bring some hydration, sunshine, sweet memories, and expansion ok?
IVY OUT