Aging

Well, this weekend I turned 30. It's funny- I see the number, I hear the number, but I still can't quite connect it with myself. I make jokes about staying 29 forever, mostly because I can't reconcile being 30 with who I am on the inside. In Spanish, the verb for becoming a new age is not "turn", but rather, "complete". I have just completed 30 years, 3 decades. I like that verb, because I like the idea of striving to complete my years well. Those of us who know God, when we come to the end of our lives, want to hear the words, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."

I guess for me, completing years well, in a way that is pleasing to God, is about serving him and glorifying him with whatever life gives me. I don't know much about what the years will bring, but I do know they will bring joy and sorrow, pain and happiness. None of us really knows what is coming, and so maybe in that sense, being in transition gives me an advantage: I am less surprised by the surprises. The unknowns cause me to stop and listen for God more deeply and more frequently than I would otherwise. I experience new depths of his love as I trust him to provide for next week and next month and next year. Both my Bible study last week and the sermon on Sunday talked about waiting on the Lord- not waiting for an event (which is exhausting) but waiting on God (which is renewing). So I wait and I trust, because I am expecting great things in these next 30 years, great growth with God and great experiences of his grace.