sun, moon, and stars

I turned 24 this month. When I was a freshman in college 24 seemed a little old, but it has arrived despite the fact I still look a feel like I'm eighteen. April and Beki came up north to celebrate with us. They're both doing the South Beach diet in a gailant effort to be more healthy...but a low carb diet is not so conducive for mountain life. We ate fried cabbage, green beans with balsamic vinegar and almonds, and 'mashed potatoes' (aka cauliflower that has been pressure cooked to death). I have to be honest and say this wasn't exactly the birthday dinner I dreamed of, but thankfully Beki and April cheated the next day and we ate Emily's delicious cinnamon rolls and enchiladas.

The next day I traveled a rather long distance to Delhi and my friends there took me out to TGI Fridays. I had fajitas and two glasses of iced tea. Alicia also made funfetti cake with cream cheese frosting...so that's what i ate for breakfast the next two mornings. If my eating habits appear to be a little gluttonous I should remind you I spent the week before my birthday sick with giardia so I'm making up for lost time.

I felt so loved and cared for on my birthday. My friends came to visit me. My other friends took me out to dinner. Jared sent me roses. I got to spend a great afternoon with Jonathan, Kelley, and Kiran. My parents arrived shortly after all that. What more can you ask for?












I'm happy to be in my mid-twenties. Age can seem a little scary when you're young, but I've realized the older I get the more at peace I am with myself. There are many things about me that I wish I could change and many things I feel insecure about. BUT the people I admire the most are the ones who are steadfast and gentle and not afraid or hindered by their imperfections. I think I disagree with Goethe...to cease striving is not the ultimate sin. Sometimes it's the very best thing we can do...especially if we're striving after the wrong things.

April and I went to the World Peace Cafe (I know...I live in a hippie town) the day before my birthday. We ate hummus and salad and read Oswald Chambers. That particular devotion was about the sun and the moon and the stars and how they simply exist. They never try to be anything besides what they are or do anything besides what they're meant to do. They don't have to prove their usefulness. In the same way wise people know that value and purpose and worth are not things to be sought after. Nor do they diminsh with age, scars, failure, or disappointment. Our value is a gift, not debatable or earned, and our acceptance of it has the power to touch the world. This was the perfect thing for me to reflect on as I turned 24. In fact, it fondly reminded me of a song my friend, Ryan, wrote in college, which is what I'll leave you with.

You don't know how lovely, how lovely you are. You're like the sun and the moon and the stars. You don't know lovely, how lovely you are. How lovely you are.