28 is....great.

28 is great. My (almost 28) best friend in the whole world made this card for me for my birthday. And she is right. Not because there is anything special about being 28, but because God has given me 28 years. For 28 years, He has abundantly displayed His faithfulness in my life. He has taught me. So very much. He allowed me to venture out on my own, then He drew me to Himself with such a pursuit that I could not resist Him. He showed me His sufficiency and His supremacy and His absolute beauty. He has molded my heart to see that only He can satisfy. Only He can fulfill. There is no one like Him. Even just in the last year, He's taught me so much. It truly has been one of the richest, hardest, sweetest years of my life. I can’t even list every little thing He’s taught me and done in my heart. It would take books and books, I’m afraid! But, I’ll try to at least skim the surface of His greatness and how He has opened my heart and eyes:

The world is unfathomably big. 7,000,000,000 hearts beating. 7,000,000,000 likes and dislikes and preferences and opinions and hopes and dreams and disappointments.

The world is beautifully small. 7,000,000,000  hearts beating. Each one in need of the exact same Savior.

His commandments are not burdensome. 1 John 5:3 Hard, maybe. But with such a Savior, they are never burdensome. We draw near to Him, knowing with confidence that His supply of grace is constant. He is the One who enables us to keep His commands. What freedom we possess in following our King.

God’s love has no limit. It stretches from the hungry old lady in a slum in North India to the little girl sold as property in Mexico to the wealthiest man in America. He holds each in His gracious and sovereign hands. He uses His people to display His love to this world, a world that is literally aching for a Savior. Why would we not proclaim it?

Our Father’s provision is perfect. He meets every need. “Our heavenly Father knows what we need and gives it to us.” (Elisabeth Elliot) Simple as that. If He hasn’t given it to us, we do not need it. He knows our needs much better than we.

The Word of the Lord is good. Abundantly good. It revives our souls. Psalm 19:7

Racism is ignorance on display. Diversity is beautiful. Stunningly, overwhelmingly beautiful. God’s handiwork on display. A reflection of the loving and creative heart of our Father. He loves diversity. How can we not love it, too?

Laughter is good. So good. The kind that hurts, takes your breath away. That kind. It's so good.

We meet with disappointment when our hope is set on someone or something other than our Savior. People will most definitely disappoint us – even people with the most genuine intentions. Jesus never will. We set our Hope in Him, the Author and Perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). There is no satisfaction to be found apart from Jesus. None. He fills us to overflowing and nothing compares with Him.

“All is grace.” (Elisabeth Elliot) From the hot, crowded buses in North India to the familiar, loving arms of family and friends and everything in between, all is grace. Every single bit. All reflecting our great Savior, our need for Him, and His perfect, abundant, steadfast grace.