Birthday Thoughts & Adventures

Its my birthday.

Numero 29, friends.  

The number, well, it means pretty much nada to me.  Whatevs.  But the present of a new year laid out before me, the potential that brings with it...  I'll tell you what, it makes me downright introspective.  Makes me want to consider the past year and look to the new, decide what I want to do and be, make goals and order my thoughts.  And so I will, because its my birthday and I can plan and dream and scheme and hope if I want to!

1.  In this new year of mine, I want to chase after God like never before.  I want to center around Him, look first to Him, consider His words and ways and actually act on them.  I saw an instagram post recently that highlighted 4 women to follow, because they were living their lives full of passion and Jesus.  And I want that.  Not to be listed on someone's instagram feed, that is inconsequential.  But when I thought about being described that way, I didn't see it in myself.  And I want to see it.  I'm planning to be bold, folks.  I'm new here, and that helps a lot, but either way, I'm planning on Jesus first, and then anything else, and I'm excited for what that's going to be like.

2.  I want to embrace hard work.  Often times I feel like running from it.  C'mon, you know you do too.  I put off the least desirable task because, well, its least desirable.  But that doesn't make it go away.  It just makes it even more of a stressor, and often makes it even more difficult to get to, and worse when I finally do.  That's not smart.  Its not wise.  Its not the best approach.  If I can teach myself to do the hard stuff first, to figure out what needs to be done and do it (& well!) regardless of how much I like it, I believe that will make me leagues more successful.  Planning out my classes for the fall, down to the daily lecture level?  Sounds kind of terrible and like it'd be nice to ignore - Ima gonna do it.  Picking up after myself as the day goes on?  It'd be nice to just live and hope that a housekeeper gets lost and comes to my house - it's time to keep up with the chaos.  Stopping my activities and giving Handsome full attention?  Its harder than it should be a lot of the time, but it deserves to be done, and it ought not be delayed.

3.  I want to live out grace for myself.  A few years ago I decided to change personality types, move from a type-A to type-B.  I can't say I've ever really gotten there, and perhaps that's the wrong way to describe it, but I want to keep trying.  To me, this means not measuring every breath as a success or a failure; not keeping so focused on the clock that I forget to enjoy the people I'm with; no longer following too many rules and not enough jokes.  To me it means relaxation and rest, intentional attention and valuing other people over my schedule.  It just seems like a better way of life, you know?

4.  Finally, I want to seek out adventure and passion and life-giving things.  Today, for my birthday, I got the wild idea that we should drive out to Lake Erie and see the Ice Dunes (huge ice jams on the beaches caused by waves that freeze - what the what!?).  It didn't really have much purpose to it other than as an excursion, and it would have been easier to stay home, but we didn't.  We did the hard work (See #2) of getting ourselves and our toddler bundled up and out of the house, and drove out to the park.  We got way more than we bargained for!

Ice fishing diehards.
Impressive, from the warmth of my car.

We saw ice fishing in action (brand new experience), stood on a frozen bay that we'd previously been on in a boat (wild!), saw someone kite-skating (think parachute, windy day, harness, and ice skates) and got to experience a frozen beach.  I'm talking sand and snow mixed at your feet.  It was weird, people, but there was a sense of adventure in it and the wide open space let my soul breathe.  I needed that little trip, and I'm convinced that I need more like them.  So this year, I want to purse those experiences - the ones where you are just embracing life, finding joy and beauty and newness because you took the time to look.

Standing on the bay.
Sure, there are more exciting things, but still.
It was fun and now we've done it!

This is a beach, folks.
Like, sand that goes right up to the water.
Except now its walls of ice that lead down to sheets of ice.
I loved it.

Rileygirl didn't get to go out on the ice, but she had a good time anyhow.
I'm trying to embrace this time while she still doesn't really know when she's missing out ;)

So that's my goals, my hopes, my thoughts for this new year.  I'm excited for what its going to bring (like a new baby in only 5 sleeps!!) and to see who I become this year.  I can't stay the same, none of us can, and so I'm looking forward to see who I'll become!  Enjoy my birthday, friends!

<3 M.