Let Me Tell You. This Is Love…

Last week was my birthday. With it, I turned 29 and began the journey of the last year of my twenties.

Unlike many people, I actually don’t mind growing older. Every year has been better than the last and I don’t expect that cycle to change anytime soon. I don’t have a single qualm about growing older or collecting wrinkles or gray hairs or achy bones. I think it’s a worthwhile exchange to feel more and more at home in my own skin, more and more at home in this world of mine, more and more at home in God's love—which happens without fail each passing year.

So it was that I welcomed this new year of mine with open arms.

As it turns out, I was not the only one.

Typically things around our house are pretty low-key. We didn’t put up a Christmas tree this year. We don’t make a fuss about wearing green on St. Patrick’s day or having a cookout on Memorial Day. We often forget it’s a holiday until late in the day when we’re reminded of it on Facebook.

To me, a day is a day and whether it’s written in red ink on my calendar or not, I see it as one to be enjoyed and embraced and celebrated, even in the smallest of ways.

So I didn’t really expect anything special for this birthday of mine. My husband had to work, so I spent most of it fielding phone calls that serenaded me with the Happy Birthday song and scrolling through post after post on Facebook with well wishes from folks I haven’t talked to in years. My in-laws stopped by with an in-person hug and some cupcakes. In short, I was reminded how many people around me love me. For me, that was enough.

But later in the week, my husband told me that he was going to take me out for my birthday, but it was a surprise. Two years ago, he took me for a surprise trip to Savannah to celebrate my birthday. Last year, he took me on a trip to this romantic frozen-in-time garden estate for no reason other than just for the simple fact that this man likes to deliver a good surprise.

When we got into the car for my surprise celebration, I could not be more surprised or excited when we pulled up to… an antique store. Friends, this is love, for my husband to take me to an antique store to let me ohh and ahh. It’s the one that everytime we drive pass, I creen to see if there’s anything new in the windows and I sing a special song about the store’s name. I'd been dying to pop in for a visit but never seemed to have the time to spare. My husband solved all of that...

After that, he took me to a string of other decorating and home stores to let me browse and dream and curate and drink it all in like a physical Pinterest page. At the end of it, as if the ice cream and scone and mocha and window-shopping weren’t enough, he took me to get my real birthday present—a new kitchen table. (We had to order it so we'll get to pick it up in a couple weeks. Here's what our kitchen looks like until then.)

Does he know me or what?

I think it’s safe to say that 29 is going to be a good year.

Related Posts
Surprise! A Birthday Trip to Savannah!
Welcoming In the New Year

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