26 years ago today

26 years ago today my mom was in Eugene, Oregon at the hospital ticked off because her doctor just came in and told her that he would have to do a Cesarean to get me out.  I was stubborn and hard headed even then.

1 year ago today I was double checking my USCIS paperwork because I was going to drop it off the next morning to get US approval to adopt Isaac.

So much can change in such a short time.  It has been a year of sadness, joy, excitement, love, brokenness, togetherness, loneliness, happiness, waiting, CHANGE.  It's been more good than bad, more happy than sad, more excitement than disappointment.

I have watched God change me.  Show me who he wants me to be.  He's spoken so clearly to me and made me promises of "all that you know is about to change" and only asked me to trust him in return.  He has put my heart and mind at ease, because I know that he holds them ever so tenderly in his hands.

It's been an amazing year, an amazing 26 years.  Every moment has led up to who I am right now.  The way my mother raised me, I am who I am today, I love the way I love today, I have compassion for those I have compassion for because of the way my mom raised me and God made me.

I spent so much of the last year of my life waiting, and I'm hoping to spend the next year living.  So today I'm 26, I'm a quarter century old.  I get a discount on my car insurance, I don't have to pay extra when I rent a car, I'm now closer to 30 than 20, and I have only just begun to live my life!