It's Here...20-10

Well, tomorrow is the big day...I am going to be 30! Agggggh! I can't believe it. It seems just yesterday I was 10 years old and attending my first New Kids on the Block concert (Danny call me!).

I think what I am most apprehensive (I am not sure if that is the write word but lets go with that for now) about is the future, not the past. I have experienced life and tried a lot of things...most good but not always. I feel as though God has spared me from a lot of heart ache...not all but most.

I've experienced physical intimacy, partied like a rock star, had my nose pierced, got a tattoo, been engaged, had my heart broken, loved with out receiving the love in return, grieved lost friends, and noted missed opportunities. I don't feel I have any should haves or could haves. Pretty good for 30 huh?

I have lived such a full life for my previous 30 years I can't wrap my brain around the next 30 years. I hope to shake things up, be radical for Christ, and love His children with reckless abandonment. I hope to get dirty holding the hands of the suffering and those who have been forgotten by society. These are things I hope for but what does God hope for?

I have a list of things that I would like to accomplish before I die (not that it is anytime soon but you have to have some point of reference for when the game is over).

1. Meet New Kids on the Block...yep I am serious so if you know Danny, Donnie, Joe, Jon, or Jordan hook a sista' up (no pun intended)
2. Fly in an F-18...I am thinking I might have to save the universe to make this happen but a girls gotta dream big right?
3. See a NASCAR race...this opportunity was thrown in my lap but do to a scheduling conflict I was not able to get this one crossed off, hopefully I will get a second chance.
4. Go to a Honky Tonk...it is the GRITS in me (Girls Raised In The South...get it?)
5. See a baby born
6. Get a second tattoo (I know...scandalous)

God is so good and merciful. I look at this life that He has given me and although most of the time I see the tapestry from the back, and it is a bloody mess, every once in a while He shows me a glimpse of the front which is colorful , intricate, and full of beauty.

I look forward with apprehension to the future plans that He has laid out for me. The book of Jeremiah says, "For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." I believe it and claim it!