34

Today is my 34th birthday . . .

I promise I'm not fishing for birthday wishes. ;)

Birthdays aren't a huge deal to me. I'm not a big gift person. If there is something in particular I want or need, I'll ask for it. Otherwise, I like to get money so I can use it to pay bills. I'm fun like that. (I do want to say thank you for all the Facebook birthday wishes. Those make a girl smile.)

The thing I like about birthdays is that they represent another fresh start.

For me, 33 was a beautiful, heartbreaking, wonderful, hard year. It was probably the hardest year of my life thus far, but I've learned so much. I've learned what it means to endure sadness and grief and come through it. I've learned that I serve a God that truly "heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds" (Psalm 147:3). I've prayed more, cried more, and oddly enough, laughed more this year than ever before. It has been a year of extremes.

Having said all that, I'll also say that I'm not altogether sad to see 33 go. As the matter of a fact, I'm pretty happy to say goodbye to it.

Here's to big things this year!