The One with The Puzzle Piece

I LOVEEE birthdays. Especially mine haha. But being a holiday adjacent birthday, birthday plans have gotten more and more complicated over the years as friends are often spread far and wide and now often have the added complications (in the best ways) of in-laws that are also vying for a piece of time. The last two years have actually been two of my favorite birthdays though! Both birthdays I spent a little money on a beautiful dress that made me feel my best and took myself out to a nice little quiet but pricier than usual dinner.

Nothing shouts SINGLE like showing up to Ruth Chris’ solo in a ball gown and heels amiright or am I right?

But genuinely, I’ve had many thoughts and reflections on what comes next. A decade came to an end, and a new one is just beginning, the magic and possibilities tantalizing me with their potential.

I remember someone once telling me that your 20s is your worst decade and that your thirties is better and your forties still better than that and so on. At the time I wanted to retort and tell them that they clearly hadn’t lived my childhood if they thought my 20s was a worse decade than the the first ones.

But as I celebrated, and now really as I reflect on the years end, I thought about what 20-29 was like for me.

My twenties was a lot of working through insecurity and adopting confidence.
My twenties was wrestling with identity, calling, purpose.
My twenties was learning my boundaries and how to implement those unapologetically.
My twenties was facing fears and learning my limits.

I explained it to a friend, my twenties was liking taking a long hard look at the puzzle piece that I am. Knowing my edges, and ins and outs. Knowing exactly what I look like and what I do not look like.

And the best part of that? As I learned the edges to my puzzle piece intricately, it became so easy to recognize the people, places, jobs, and relationships that fit perfectly and those that do not. Before I knew who I was, there was a large and involved process of me trying to evaluate each job or relationship I tried on for size to figure out if it’s a fit. I wasted invaluable time evaluating the jobs/careers at hand or the boys I dated to see if we fit.

I probably shouldn’t say wasted, because I learned so much of who I AM because of that. What previously required deep introspection, self-evaluation, and pros and cons lists has become such an intuitive thing. Which is probably what makes me most excited about my thirties.

Instead of spending time figuring out who I am- my place in the world, and if the choices of jobs, friendships, ministry opportunities, or relationships are the right one- I can just live and find the pieces that fit neatly with the puzzle piece of my life.

I want my thirties to be filled with changing the world.
I want my thirties to be about impacting people and places for the better with my skills and abilities.
I want my thirties to be when I lead other young women into confidence.
I want my thirties to be when I walk people into freedom in Christ in every way.
I want my thirties to be when I chase adventure.

I want my thirties to be when I find every place and person in this world that is a fit for the puzzle piece that God designed me to be.

I’ve never felt so confident, secure, settled, and spurred for adventure as I have at 30. So I can’t wait to see what God has in store. I hope that it means he takes the decade that was all about me and turns it into the decade that is all about impact. Normally I pick a word for the year, but this time I picked my word for the decade. My motto.