#lettingmylightshineat49

Sitting on the porch at the beach waiting for the sun to come, putting the finishing touches on this post…

I have only posted once since my last birthday – I honestly don’t have excuses other than, well, life. Restore, renew, recreate was a perfect theme as life would have it. I honestly had no idea at the time, really what that meant. I knew that I needed to focus and find some routine, some order to the chaos that was my life. I have a few stories from this year that need to be told, and I’ll do it – just not today. #procrastinatingrockstar

Here were are at 49 – how in the world did I get here so fast? My child is almost 4, sassy little thing that she is, and life is still pretty busy despite scaling way back on commitments this year.

Which brings us to my hashtag for the year – #lettingmylightshineat49 – is where I ended up. It in part references Matthew 5:16… ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that^[a] they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. I’m kind of loving the Message version that says this – ^14-16 “Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.

I am mostly non confrontational in my interactions with folks – I don’t try to be a feather ruffling kind of gal. If you ask me an opinion, I’ll for sure give it to you, probably not sugar coated, and sometimes expecting a reaction of “well, why don’t you tell me how you really feel” HA! Those in my circle my disagree with this, because I’m more comfortable sharing my feelings with them, and maybe if you catch me on a low filter day for what comes out of my mouth – something I’ve worked on being in control of -you may have seen that side of me too. One thing that I feel like God has been pointing me to through my Bible study this year is this – we, as believers, are called to share about God, His words, how He is still moving in this day and age. I don’t do this well. My bubble is pretty small. Post becoming a mom and covid drama, probably more so. But. I am certain that the experiences that God has allowed in my life and miracles He has done in and through me are things that need to be shared. We, believers, are the current generation to spread the gospel of Jesus on this earth. It’s our turn. In our ladies’ Bible study we are reading The Gospel on the Ground by Kristi McLelland and it has really confirmed what I’ve already been aware of – I have a responsibility – in my home, in my family, as a friend, in my community to share about Jesus.

I will likely never be an in your face person on social media or even here on my blog – it’s not my goal. I am committing to be more honest, more vunerable, more willing to share what God has prompted me to and not worry about offending someone by the words I say or being politically correct or being popular. This world is not my home, my time here is short – and my time to be living like this is true has come. I want to be example for my child, I want to raise her in a home where we talk about God often, pray often and are different than the culture around us. People are hurting, our world is in chaos and our eyes are far from focused on eternal things. I can’t change the world by myself, but I can be responsible for how and what I contribute. So let’s see what God has in store for this year! I’m ready!