Here’s to 42!
Well, tomorrow is my birthday & it’s the big 4-2 happening here.
Nothing big planned—just planning to go walk around the mall & get dinner with the hubs. It’s how I like it. Simple, good company, small, quiet, good food, & maybe a few presents & light pink balloons, too.
Aging is interesting, isn’t it? For one, I do not feel 42. As my mom says every year, “how are you ________, when I’m still 29?” That’s how it feels, doesn’t it? I wonder if it’s because our souls are eternal & our bodies are not. Our bodies are slowly wearing down over time (I definitely feel that truth more & more with each passing year), but our souls are forever young.
Not Ashamed to Say It… I Love My Birthday!
But I think getting older is cool. I LOVE my birthday. I’m a complete kid with my birthday. It always involves a lot of pink & all my favorite foods & presents I get to pick out (which makes it twice as nice because I so enjoy shopping (even just window shopping is super fun for me—seeing beautiful fabrics & creative designs & people’s artistic expressions).
But beyond those things, I think celebrating my birthday each year is really cool because it’s a reminder of another year I have completed. Another year of experiences lived. New hobbies or lessons learned or new friends met. New lessons God has taught me. New things overcome.
Every year passed is another year of time with family & friends, of traveling, of seeing how God wants to use me during my time on this green earth… it’s like leveling up in a video game—an achievement I have earned (with SO MUCH of God’s help), an achievement worth celebrating.
Another year of life LIVED. Another year of seeing God’s blessings, even through the darkest, hardest of times.
Don’t Fear the Grays–Embrace Them! They’re a Crown of Glory!
God actually says that gray hair is like a crown of glory. (Provers 16:31) Why? Because it shows how much you have faced to EARN that gray hair. A life long-lived.
“Even to your old age, I [God] am He,
And even to gray hairs I will carry you!
I have made, and I will bear;
Even I will carry, and will deliver you.” (Isaiah 46:4)
“Wisdom is with the aged,
and understanding in length of days.
With God are wisdom and might;
he has counsel and understanding.” (Job 12:12-13)
“So even to old age and gray hairs,
O God, do not forsake me,
until I proclaim your might to another generation,
your power to all those to come.
Your righteousness, O God,
reaches the high heavens.
You who have done great things,
O God, who is like you?” (Psalm 71:18-19)
In My 42nd Year…
In my 42nd year, I hope to surrender more of myself & my way to God’s will & way. To be used by Him. To surrender more to His leading, to do more of what pleases & honors Him. To use my time well.
In my 42nd year, I hope for more warm & happy memories with my family & friends… more edifying (building up) & encouraging (lifting up) & exhorting (urging forward) conversations. (AKA, more “3E” conversations.)
In my 42nd year, I hope for more opportunities to travel (& maybe a couple Disney trips thrown in there, too–Tokyo Disney is so cheap & so fun!).
In my 42nd year, I hope I will be able to look back at the end of it & see how much I’ve grown, how many fears God has helped me overcome, how many better habits I’ve established & incorporated with God’s help, how far God has brought me from this moment right here writing this.
To 42 Years, & Counting
You see, deserving or not, God never gives up on me. His love compelled Him to give His all for me, when I deserved none of it. He didn’t have to. He wanted to. And He still gives & gives & gives! Peace in the storms, wisdom when I’m lost, strength when I’m helpless, & gentle love through it all.
And I trust that He will continue to work on me, weeding out the not-so-greats & pruning the could-be-betters. He is faithful. He is working. He doesn’t give up on me. Not now, not ever.
And I want my year 42 to reflect that in every high & in every low, not because I have a right to have this platform, but because He has a right to have this platform be used to proclaim His glory with every single letter written from now until my final dying breath.
With every breath, may I praise the LORD.
Shine HOPE, by allowing your age, the number of years you’ve lived, be a proclamation of how far He has brought you, of accomplishments, of experiences lived, of lessons learned, of life LIVED. To God be the glory, forever & ever. AMEN.
Coming Next Week
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As God grows me, may it encourage you to seek Him & know Him & love Him more every day.
A Note from Michelle:
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Fashion as a Force for GOOD:
Each week, I feature an item that is changing lives for women around the world. These hand-crafted pieces are offering job creation opportunities for women artisans in impoverished nations all around the world! Consider these pieces when shopping for friends, family, or yourself. Check out this week’s featured beauty!!
Snowdrop Owl Ornament (NEPAL)
HOLIDAY EDITION – While supplies last! Create safe jobs with fair wages for the women in Nepal who handcraft the adorable Snowdrop Owl Ornament through this dignified partnership. Adorn your Christmas tree with a beautiful Owl Ornament featuring pearl beaded accents, crafted using 100% wool and traditional wool crafting techniques that have been passed down for generations.
SHOP Here, OR, Email me at michellehyde.tradesofhope@gmail.com with any questions, & I will message you personally with more information!! Thank you for inspiring HOPE around the world, Lovely!
How You Can Help Artisans around the World AND Help Support My Website:
#1 is PRAY. Financial help is great & helps pay my website fees & helps support these women artisans… but God’s help is always needed most… both for encouragement & for spiritual hope, through Jesus, for the women we support through our ethical fashion purchases. Always PRAY first.
Your purchases not only help these women, but my commissions help me in continuing this website/blog, encouraging women all around the world with the HOPE we have in Jesus. Win-win-win!
Have a wonderful week living for His glory in all that you do!
HERE’S TO YEAR 42!!
