Tag Archives: new year

Goodbye, 21

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I love birthdays.

And that’s an understatement when it comes to my own – I adore my birthday. I get so excited for it when each new year begins, and then when February itself actually rolls around… caution: birthday on my mind! This year, since it’s my golden birthday (eek!), I thought I’d do a fun thing and share some random (seriously, random) things I’ve learned over these past years. And with that, the first nugget:

Trust God.

I remember writing a “song” when I was younger that consisted of this one line (I’m definitely not a songwriter!): “When in trouble, trust God, ’cause He’s the only one that can help you!” Even though that was many years ago, I still remember the tune I came up with for the song! No matter how old I get, I feel like each year, I get the opportunity to trust God in a deeper way based on whatever I’m going through at that time. It’s a great yearly lesson for me to hone in on. I was quite young at the time, but if I were to add to the song now, I’d add something about trusting God at all times, not just in troubling ones. The results are pretty sweet and adventurous when we can trust God in the good and the bad.

Parents and sisters are the BEST.

It’s always such a riot talking with my parents and sisters on Facetime or over text. My family is awesome and I miss them like crazy! They never fail to build me up or make me laugh, and they understand my quirks like no one else can.

Cooking & baking from scratch is a good test in patience.

I like popping pre-made food into the oven, waiting the required 20 or so minutes, and then eating to my heart’s delight. But cooking from scratch requires…shudder… preparation. And lots of patience from a loudly-grumbling belly.

Choose your guns and stick to them.

It’s not easy to be swayed by acquaintances (let’s be honest, a “no” to a relative stranger is easy to pass out), but it’s much easier to be swayed by friends or people we know really well. Sometimes, I’ve found it’s a good thing, especially when it concerns food. But in other times, I’ve learned that if I have a set plan in my head beforehand on busy days where I need to be productive, going along with the crowd is no bueno, even if I’m the only one going my own way. I always find that I’m much, much more content accomplishing the things in my plan rather than trying to please friends by saying yes.

And yet, spontaneity is an adventure waiting to happen!

Then there are times when plans that have wiggle room can be amended, leading to memorable adventures. With fun pictures! Continue reading →

NYE

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Faithfulness. That’s the word that I would use to most accurately sum up my 2013. Every single experience I’ve had this year, whether a high or low, has been especially memorable as I think back on many of them because I’ve realised that God’s mercies – or in other words, His constant faithfulness – have been increasingly abundant in my life this past year. He hasn’t been more or less faithful than before, but I think I’ve grown to appreciate the simple things in my life that truly capitalize on His daily faithfulness. I could reflect on the “big” things in my life – like finding a job after graduation for my gap year – or the “small” things – like the fall afternoon where the rain in the sky miraculously held off from pouring down until seconds after I returned home from running – but either way, His faithfulness shines through. I can’t think of one encounter I’ve had this year where God’s immense faithfulness hasn’t been at work in my life, and it makes me so incredibly excited to continue to do life with Him guiding me in the new year.

This song, Great is Your Mercy, is taking it old school (I seriously adore the fact that it’s 10 minutes long…if you know me, you know I love abnormally-long songs) – it’s one of those classic church songs where the same sentiments are sung repeatedly by different people. But the way each person articulates the same message is profound in my eyes. I can almost feel how greatly each person has experienced God’s faithfulness in their own personal, varying situations through the way they express each word in song. That’s how God’s faithfulness is as well. We each experience it, whether knowingly or not, and it impacts us in different ways based on where we are in life. The difference comes with how we respond to it. I’ve seen myself be completely ignorant of how faithful God has been in certain past situations, because my eyes have been focused on circumstances, rather than above. I pray that in the new year, I can continue to respond to God’s faithfulness just as the people above vocalising “Great is Your mercy towards me” have: with fresh eyes and a humble, grateful heart.

Happy New Year! 2014 is sure to be a spectacular adventure.