Twenty-Six!!

I am a super huge fan of birthdays, particularly mine. Today has been fantastic from start to end. I'm in Madison, Mississippi visiting my friend Julie and her husband Will. This morning I got up at 5 and enjoyed my quiet time and finishing my 25 list (previous blog post). I started reading Practicing His Presence (Bro. Lawerence and Frank Laubach) - very neat book. I ate chocolate "declare" cake for breakfast - it's really named chocolate eclair cake but I've called it declare since I was really young. (And I'm having some more now. Just talking about it made me so hungry!) I got many, many birthday wishes by phone, text and facebook. Although I like the facebook Timeline in general, it wouldn't show all my birthday messages at once which was a little annoying.

Julie took me to play tennis - I've never played before and it was a lot of fun. When we came home Will was washing my car!! Best birthday surprise. I loooove a clean car! This afternoon we went bowling and my first two games were awful, but then I bowled a 180! We went to eat at a Mexican restaurant and they brought me a dessert and a sombrero and sang and put whipped cream on my face! It was hilarious, even though I'm not big on getting messy.

Afterward we went back to play more tennis! I also requested to see Christmas lights because when I came in December we drove through this neighborhood where all the houses had lights that were synced with music and it was so cool. So we played and it was dark when we finished, and guess what we saw when we were driving home? Christmas lights!

Fantastic day. So much fun. Oh and yesterday I got my ears pierced for the first time ever! I love them. I think the lady at Walmart thought I was 15 b/c she asked me how old I was and when I told her I was turning 26, she laughed and said, "You look so young!" They are sparkly and I love them. I'm excited about earring shopping. I want some feather earrings.

25 Things I Learned When I Was 25

- Having interns at BigHouse is pretty much the best thing ever. They keep me company, they work hard, they are dependable and take up the slack for me on bad head days, they make me laugh, they do things I don’t love to do (clean, and embroider towels), they are my ‘legit’ friends.

- Winter is not necessary. We did just fine without it this year.

- It’s really fun to watch my team win the National Championship for college football (oh, wait…I learned that when I was 23.)

- God is not opposed to putting me through pain for my utmost good. And I’m glad.

- A headache really can last for more than a year (and counting).

- Being loved by a child is one of the most precious feelings ever.

- Being girly is fun – eye shadow, nail polish, earrings and all! Yes, these are all new to me.

- 4:00AM is not as scary as it used to be. It’s not when I would prefer to wake up, but if it happens it’s ok - God’s awake then too.

- I like to drive my car without turning on the radio. But if I do have it on, I enjoy listening to sermons.

- The park by Grandmom’s house is a wonderful retreat.

- Vacation is good for my head, most of the time.

- There is more to God than I ever imagined, and He is just who He says He is.

- I love married Sunday School classes.

- God’s not afraid of ANYTHING!

- I can do more than I think I can, but I can do nothing without Christ.

- “Blessed” translated from the Greek word makarizō means “to be declared as indwelt by God and therefore fully satisfied.”

- Double Dunker ice cream made by Turkey Hill deserves a standing ovation.

- I like prison break movies. But I never want to be in prison.

- A/C in the car is a luxury worth having.

- Meditation is a good practice.

- Discipleship relationships are rewarding on both ends.

- You know you’re a grown up when you are hiding Easter eggs instead of hunting them.

- Being useful to God has nothing to do with my activity.

- It’s ok to write in my Bible. But it will still travel in its box.

- God speaks my love language, even in discipline.