The Year of the Quarter

(satisfied and full after a wonderful dinner at P.F. Chang's)

...century that is. Yes, for those of
you who haven't known me since I was a scrawny, loud (still am), spastic afro
puff, yesterday was my 25th birthday. I had every intention of posting an entry
yesterday, but by the time I sat down at the computer, it was my bedtime. PandaMom asked
me last night if it was weird as I was considering the fact that SHE was 25
when we met. She was 25 and I was 14...yes, weird. It seems like just yesterday,
too, that I posted my thoughts from my 24th birthday last
year as the Fall 2006
semester of school was approaching.

(Bob didn't want a picture on his birthday, April 10, so I took one for him)

Last year came with the realization that
I was no longer a college student; my perspectives were drastically changing and
the Lord was opening my eyes to things I had not previously considered.
This year has come with the realization that I really am an adult. Some of
you may snicker at the statement, but I am going to guess that I am not the only
one who has spent time reflecting on such a reality. I really am an adult
now. Some aspects from the past seem as though I just lived them
yesterday, and others seem more like distant dreams of which I have rather faint
and less frequent recollections. I struggle to write out a thorough
summation of the thoughts that have gone through my mind since yesterday
morning, but there is one thing I have neither difficulty nor hesitation
pointing out--

(how completely undeserving, overwhelmed, and thankful I am)

The Lord is good and He is
faithful. I have realized all the more this year how my life, and how He
has worked therein, is so much more evidence of His grace than I ever give Him
credit for. I think of my imperfect being, my imperfect family, my
imperfect friends, and cannot help but cry out thanks for how He so intricately
works in the lives of His people. How often I miss His continuous work and
steadfast love for us who are at His mercy--and He IS merciful! I am
wicked, and I can see the many ways in which I have failed to honor my parents
and miserably fallen short of being a good friend to those who know me
best. But in spite of my sin, He called ME, the sinful person I am, into
His marvelous light. I did not choose to walk out of the darkness and into
His light--a dead person can't make himself alive. But God, through the
blood of Jesus Christ, has called me His own. He has given me a new name,
a new heart, and new life. This is the one thing I am sure of and where I
find rest. All secondary issues in this life pale in comparison to the
realization that He has given me the very breath that keeps me going.

Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. . . . My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me. ~Psalm 63:3,8