24: A Year of Firsts

 

 

With my 25th birthday coming up in just a few weeks,  it struck me that summarizing this past year's events would be a useful exercise.

 

Momentous and mundane were the happenings of my 24th year, and many of those events were first-time experiences.  Below several will be highlighted:

 

1) I celebrated my one-year anniversary as a teller at my credit union job (working with finances had never before occurred in my life).

 

2) With my brother, I performed the Disney duet from the film, Tangled, called I See the Light, whilst singing with our contemporary, a cappella group at a posh, evening wedding...such fun!

 

3) On November 1st, I went out on my first date.  Jacob asked me out when I had completely lost my voice from a nasty cold, which bewildered, yet delighted me.  The guy is from my community chorus, and although we had a great time, he is an agnostic, so we have not gone out since.  But the Lord gave me boldness to share both my testimony and gospel truth with him-may he come to know Jesus in all His wondrous beauty.

 

4) The 3rd of November also witnessed the first time I totaled a vehicle, my 2005, Hyundai Accent!  God protected my brother and I, who were in the car, as well as the passengers of the three other cars involved.  That was quite the growing-up experience.

 

5) Joining World Team Tennis for the first time, after playing the sport off and on over my life was a blast, and my team, The Avengers, qualified for the summer 2013 nationals playoffs!

 

6) This past year also was also a gift from God in that I was blessed with some of the best health I have had since a young child!  The circumstances were truly miraculous. :)

 

7) I finished the first draft of my novel, The Family Tree, after five years of crafting.  Now to tackle editing 101.  Having purchased my first laptop, a Widows 8 HP Intel, hopefully this process will move along far more efficiently than when I haunted the local library.

 

8) Being of a theatrical persuasion since a wee thing, but unable to pursue that gifting for various reasons, God saw fit to allow me to be in not one show, but two!  Rodgers' and Hammerstein's Cinderella and a revue of Broadway's Little Women were the fabulous shows, and this next week, I plan, Lord willing, to audition for the complete, Broadway version of Les Miserables, with the role of Eponine as the foremost aspiration!

 

9) My siblings and I celebrated our first year living in the home we renovated and purchased...what a stretching this has been, but so worth it.

 

10) Last, but most essentially, Jesus has been answering my heart's desire to give me a radical love for Him, to which nothing else will compare.  As He is captivating me more, Satan has been attacking me with renewed fury, but Christ has defeated Him and my sin: I am free! I am my Beloved's and He is mine. :)

Thank you for 24 years of life, Lord...conform me more into the image of Your Son and use me to the fullest to spread Your love and truth throughout year 25!