.: last day at twenty-eight :.

Today is the last day I will ever be 28. Tomorrow I will wake up as a 29 year old... and begin to live the last year of my twenties. What have been some of the highlights? Graduating from college, going to Israel, working in Junior High Youth Ministry, going to Regent, working at Mount Hermon, meeting so many new people, learning so many new things (about myself, about others, about God), and potentially meeting a life long friend. Tomorrow is the day that I begin acting my age, I guess... and at least acting out the best years of my life all over again. There are no re-dos in this life... but there are moments of sweet redemption all around us, just waiting until we are distracted so that they can catch us completely off guard. I think one of the deeper lessons that I have (l)earned these recent years is that of simply not kidding myself. Maybe the better phrase is to learn to live in light of reality as it truly is. And yes, that is way easier said than done, for most (if not all) of us have plenty of idols and other distractions that keep us from life. As for me, I want to do whatever it takes to keep my eyes open wide, positioned with all my senses to breathe it all in, with hope being more than alive in the deepest spaces of me. I admit, these years are going far quicker than I am used to... and I certainly am in no rush to get anywhere, as much as I desire to be there. But these times are greater than I had anticipated. And having pushed through - or at the very least, dragged through - all the fears, apprehensions, and misunderstandings, I am ready to wake to find those things that still await me.