On Turning 25

A new year and a brand new start. Somehow this birthday feels so dense and important -- not in a daunting, overwhelming way, but in the sense that I just know this year holds so much newness and important steps for me. I hope I let this year teach me some good lessons. I know lessons often are not easily learned, but I feel prepared to take on this year with bravery and a fresh outlook.

Though I may still be searching for me – aren't we all? – I feel like 24 taught me valuable lessons about what I am good at and maybe what I am not so good at. I have learned what I am most passionate about and how I can best contribute to help seeing this achieved. 25 is about narrowing in and refining myself.

I want to spend intentional time this year choosing to see all the joy there is in life rather than dwelling on perfection. Though I know I am further along than I was this time one year ago, I want to spend more purposeful time getting to know myself better.

I am learning that life -- it is about dreaming big. That it is good to just begin sometimes. Just get started – don’t wait for perfection. There really could not be a better time to start truly learning this lesson than now.

My life has changed in ways I could never have dreamed this year. I met the greatest guy and made the best friends. And at the end of this week, I will be packing up my desk and saying goodbye to a workplace I have called home for over a year. I am starting a new job in a new place with new people. I will be writing grants 90% of the time and working to cultivate a skill I didn't know I even had a knack for until last year.

And as I begin a brand new job, my parents will be moving from Germany to America. Transition can be messy and it certainly will not be perfect for them or for me, but there is such comfort in company and we are all being so brave!

This year, I said goodbye to Germany and the memories of the sweetest childhood I could have ever asked for. This process helped me mature, but also remind myself to not forget my childhood and to always remember to jump in puddles after the rain or make forts in the living room. 

This year, my baby sister married the man of her dreams and I gained another incredible brother.

This year, my best friend had a sweet, beautiful, little girl and became a new mama. 

So many moments of transition and joyful change. 

As I seek to learn new lessons this year, there are old lesson I hope to keep close to mind and heart. I know I am not inspired by the time I spend in front of the computer, but by the time away from it. I need to spend more time with the laptop closed, my cell phone tucked away at the bottom of my purse and with a book open or in the fresh outdoors.

I also know, and should be continually reminded, that I am so much happier in community and with my friends. Last year Dallas was still new and a little frightening. I was still trying to figure out where I fit in and who among this expanse of people I might call friend. Now that I have been here over a year, I am so thankful for the friendships formed here. What would I ever do without them? 1,000 times thank you! (I love you, Mony!)

I do not know where this year will take me, but I am ready to experience it wide-eyed and excited to see what is in store. I know it is going to be an incredible year – something just tells me so! And for my many friends also with February birthdays – happy birthday to you too! Let’s embrace this year with hope and a prayer of thankfulness for His many blessings. Let's continue to seek out community and encourage one another in faith. Let’s be brave about transition and change and not dwell on perfection, but be willing to just start and see what happens next.