The BIG 25!!!!!

I'm officially two weeks away from turning a quarter of a century old. Most people think that your 25th birthday is just another birthday, but to me it is much more than that. 18 is the birthday that says you're a grown up, 21 is the birthday that says you can drink alcohol, but the reason 25 is such a big number for me is because well... I'm a quarter through a century and one more birthday closer to Heaven. If I can be indulgent for a few moments I'd like to take you through my train of thought...

This is the FIRST birthday of me officially being a mother (meaning the baby is out of the belly). Two days after I turn 25, my daughter will be turning 1. This will be my SECOND birthday married- yup almost a month after I turn 25 I will celebrate two wonderful years of marriage. I met my husband the day before I turned 20- so I can still say I was a teenager when I met him. And finally this will be my THIRD birthday graduated from college. I graduated in 2006. Those are probably the three biggest achievements I've reached and their relation to this coming birthday is pretty remarkable.

So as I'm two weeks away from turning 25 my ponderings rest on the fact that I'll also be celebrating 19 years of knowing my marvelous Lord and Savior. I actually turned 6 almost a month before I accepted the gift of knowing Jesus personally. Christ is the reason I am who I am- He's the reason I make most of the decisions I do- and He's also the reason I have few regrets in my life. Oh I have regrets as I look back, but not as many as I know others might have. He's brought me so far from the little girl in Sunday School who asked Him to save her from the bad things she had done, to take control of her life and to take her home to be with Him when she dies. He has NEVER failed me- no not once. Now I have a daughter and as much as I love her and hold her to be one of the most precious gifts in my life- I know He loves her so much more than I possibly could. And the love He has for her is the same special love He has for me, the same love He has for you. When I was 16, I couldn't see myself 17, when I was 17, I couldn't believe I was turning 18, and when I turned 21- MAN I was really in disbelief! (not due to alcohol by the way- I know some of you were thinking why 21?) You want to know why? It's because I expected that the Lord was gonna come back for me or take me home. So it's always a joy to get older for me because it's one more birthday closer to Christ. I look back on the past 25 years and I see all the faces that are no longer here on this Earth and it's for a few special ones that I wish I could be young again so I would still have them to touch and talk to. Some I know I'll see again, but there are a few others I'm sad to say who will not be where I'm going. For their sakes I wish that they had chosen Christ in this life so they wouldn't have to suffer like they are.
The one thing about getting older, that I wish was not a part of the process, is seeing how innocent life used to be compared to how the world really is today, and to realize more and more the evil days we are living in and to know that my child will be faced with greater temptations and hardship than I have to face. So I pray that she too will come to know Christ at a young age- so she too will be spared from the consequences of not knowing Him. I'm not a real political person (which is ironic since my husband's family is very involved politically), but I will say although I respect the authority God has given to this President, I wonder if it was for the reason of showing us how far we've drifted away from God.

Enough of my ramblings. I just want to finish out saying I'm glad that the Lord has allowed me to live this long, to experience this life as I know it. I'm even more thankful that He made a way for me to be with Him when this life is over.