Twenty-Three <3

Well, my friends, today I turn twenty-three! Yes, it’s my birthday. I’m at work as this post goes live … and probably a little stressed out … but that’s okay. 😉 Tonight I’ll have gluten-free cake and hang out with the fam.

It’s strange to think that I’m twenty-three already. I thought it would feel different … I thought I would be different … I thought my life would look differently. But through it all, I become more convinced that God is good and He holds me securely. As His own special daughter. My faith in God has grown. And deepened. And solidified. Jesus Christ has become, more surely, my treasure. Perhaps each struggle, and trial, and troublesome night, and dark morning has only served to light a passion in my soul for my Creator, His kingdom, and my place & work in that kingdom.

I’m thankful for another birthday; a reminder that God purposefully formed me in my mother’s womb some twenty-three years ago. He has purpose for me. I was made by Him and for Him. How glorious!

 

Colossians 1:16

All things were created through Him and for Him.

Psalm 139:1-3

O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
² You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
³ You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.

At the beginning of my 22nd year, I went to the C.R.O.S.S. conference with some friends from another state. That was an extraordinary blessing that I hadn’t seen coming! It warms my heart with hope when I remember that and I dare wonder what God has in store for me this year. On this earth we will always have struggles. But praise God for the sweetness and meaning He weaves in amidst the hardship. Our suffering is not in vain! God has a bigger purpose and plan than we could ever imagine!

I pray that you, my dear reader, come to know more deeply the love of Christ. And your purpose, in Him! I pray that, on your own birthday, you feel celebrated, for you are a miracle! ❤

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Now, the rest of this blog post is just for fun and hopefully I way to connect with you! Comment below and tell me how you’re similar, or different, from me. 🙂

23 Random Things Concerning Me

1. I haven’t always loved Christmas season, but I do now!
2. I dream of publishing a novel
3. I really like Lindsey Stirling’s music
4. I love dancing, and would like to learn some kind of contemporary ballet/hip-hop
5. Joanna Davidson Politano is my newest favorite author (who else has read her books??)
6. I’m really curious about spiritual gifts, and wonder if mine is something like “prophecy”, “discernment”, or “teaching”…?
7. I’m the eldest daughter in a family of eleven
8. I really, really want to watch the new Little Women in theaters sometime after Christmas Day!
9. I work in childcare
10. I’m tentatively planning to move this spring
11. I see things in black and white and I can be very passionate and relentless about what I believe. But this doesn’t change my love and compassion for people! If we don’t agree, that doesn’t mean I don’t care – very much – for you!
12. I’m a conservative, American patriot 😀
13. I’ve been called an “old soul”
14. I always thought I’d be married with kids by this age, but God has been showing me some truly spectacular blessings He has worked in my life through my “singleness”
15. I still would love to be a wife and mommy (and homemaker) someday 😉
16. Chick-fil-A and Culvers are my favorite restaurants (maybe because they’re two places I feel safe to eat at? But truly, I’m quite pleased with the food & atmosphere)
17. I’m a deep thinker and deep feeler, and always analyzing people and situations
18. I’ve thought I might like to be a counselor
19. Anxious by Sarah Reeves and Change by NF are probably the two songs I’ve connected most deeply with
20. I’d like to do a photo shoot in a fancy library
21. Thinking about using the gifts and talents God gave me to do the work He prepared in advance for me to do (to glorify Him and love Him & people) gets me feeling all the passion and excitement! ❤
22. I love hanging out with people and having deep, authentic, exciting conversations
23. I love fashions from other eras … (medieval, colonial, Civil War, Victorian, 1920s, 1940s)

23 Things I’m Thankful For

1. my Lord & Lover of my soul, Jesus Christ
2. family and friends
3. stirring music
4. babies falling asleep in my arms
5. twenty-three years of  life!
6. Christmas season
7. pretty dresses
8. pizza
9. the ability to write
10. meeting so many lovely, new people this year
11. lights on the Christmas tree
12. American patriots fighting for righteousness, justice, peace, and people! (example: Brandon Tatum, Candace Owens, Allie Beth Stuckey, Lila Rose, Will Witt, PragerU, etc.)
13. the ability to vote
14. books
15. Josh Turner’s gospel album: I Serve a Savior
16. Christmas hymns and carols
17. prayer
18. brothers and sisters in the faith … encouraging each other in the Lord!
19. weddings
20. a sense of belonging
21. security in Christ
22. thrift stores
23. the Word and the Holy Spirit to guide, correct, and comfort me

Twenty-Three Books I Love

1. The Holy Bible (The Word of God)
2. Lady Jayne Disappears by Joanna Davidson Politano (Victorian Mystery Historical Fiction)
3. Finding Lady Enderly by Joanna Davidson Politano (Victorian Mystery Historical Fiction)
4. Recovering Redemption: A Gospel-Saturated Perspective on How to Change by Matt Chandler (Christian Living Nonfiction)
5. Sex, Purity, and the Longings of a Girl’s Heart: Discovering the Beauty and Freedom of God-Defined Sexuality by Kristen Clark & Bethany Beal (Christian Living Nonfiction)
6. Starflower {Tales of Goldstone Wood #4} by Anne Elisabeth Stengl (Fantasy Fiction)
7. Breaking the Fear Cycle: How to Find Peace for Your Anxious Heart by Maria Furlough (Christian Living Nonfiction)
8. A Woman Named Damaris by Janette Oke (Historical Fiction)
9. Feminine Appeal by Carolyn Mahaney (Christian Living Nonfiction)
10. Grown-Up Faith by Kevin Myers (Christian Living Nonfiction)
11. The Lacemaker by Laura Frantz (Colonial Historical Fiction)
12. Dare {The Blades of Acktar #1} by Tricia Mingerink (Fantasy Fiction)
13. The Whole Christ: Legalism, Antinomianism, and Gospel Assurance―Why the Marrow Controversy Still Matters by Sinclair B. Ferguson (Christian Living Nonfiction)
14. One-Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp (Christian Living Nonfiction)
15. Mark of the Raven {Ravenwood Chronicles #1} by Morgan L. Busse (Fantasy Fiction)
16. Yankee in Atlanta {Heroines Behind the Lines #3} by Jocelyn Green (Civil War Historical Fiction)
17. Bread of Angels by Tessa Afshar (Biblical Historical Fiction)
18. Daring to Hope: Finding God’s Goodness in the Broken and the Beautiful by Katie Davis Majors (Christian Living Nonfiction)
19. A Time to Speak {Out of Time #2} by Nadine Brandes (Dystopian Fiction)
20. Entwined by Heather Dixon Wallwork (Fairy Tale Historical/Fantasy Fiction)
21. Waking Rose {A Fairy Tale Retold #3} by Regina Doman (Contemporary Fairy Tale Fiction)
22. Samara’s Peril {Ilyon Chronicles #3} by Jaye L. Knight (Fantasy Fiction)
23. Liar’s Winter by Cindy K. Sproles (Historical Fiction)

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