{Golden}

I have never dreaded a birthday before. Also, never turned 30 before, so maybe fear and 30 are related? And, by golly it’s my lucky birthday because 30 just happens to be my golden birthday! Oh yay! {Don’t let the sarcasm smack you in the face.}

Golden, hey?

But really, life is like gold. No. I take that back – LIVING is like gold. Valuable. Highly sought-after. Precious. Shiny. Beautiful. Irreplaceable when lost.

So I am going to let this anxiety be coated in a shiny coat of gold, for now. Maybe this is the ideal way to enter the 30’s. Maybe this golden birthday is protective refuge from the reality of just that… growing old. This could be the slow transition into a new era, decade… {Oh my. This is too much.}

At about age 30 {according to Luke 3:23}, Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, at the beginning of His public ministry of teaching and healing. Within three years He changed the world. By 33 He had died, rose and ascended into heaven. The bible accounts for all His good within those three short years.

Forget seeing this next journey as a decade. I see these next three years as crucial to my faith and journey with God. If this birthday is not a calling, I don’t know what is. I don’t think I could relate any more with His mission than now, at 30 years old. I am more and more open to this relationship. Nurturing my connection with God is at the forefront of this new decade. {Oh my, again, with the “decade” stuff…}

Someone once told me, “If you have health, you have no reason not to be happy.” As I fear the health concerns that may expose themselves in my later years {the joys of aging} I will practice faith and strength in His plan. I will continue to put health and fitness at the top of my mind and enjoy my health as it is today. I will bike because I can. I will run because I can. I will keeping moving forward every day because I am not limited. He moves through me and He pushes me to be better. As a biker. As a runner. As a human. Thy will be done. Your Spirit is alive through me. I can do all this through Him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13

And so, this day I celebrate my golden birthday. With sustained hope, happiness and sparkle for life and LIVING a full, faithful journey. With the goal to walk in His footsteps and become like Him in His teachings.

Farewell 20’s. You were full of energy and charm. Some of my best memories will live with you forever and always. Don’t let me forget it. Don’t let me ever lose appreciation for those days.

Hello 30’s. Nice to meet you. Just want to warn you a little about my high expectations. My appetite for health and fitness is ravenous. And I am hoping you can offer me some life-enhancing enlightenment. Remind me of the rainbows after the storms. Do not let me get swallowed by my jaded thoughts. Allow the dark to fade and each sunrise to remind me of how lucky I am, over and over, every day forward.

Awaken me.

Breathe through me.

Let this year be golden.

Bring it on, new decade!

Bring me closer to my King.

Many Blessings and Cheers, Jax