So Long Teen Years

As many of you figured out, yesterday was my 20th birthday. I crossed a threshhold of life, sealing the lid on my second decade of life and beginning my third. As my good friend, Steve Crawford, reminded me of the fact that twenty is a strange age - not a teenager, but not a legal adult. O well, we can still live our twenty-first year of life powerfully for the glory of God.

Many people showered me with Happy Birthday's and gifts. I was happily surprised by all of the people from school and IBEX that took the time to pass on their best regards. And so, to all of you, I give one big heart-felt thank you.

Well, as we know from John Piper and C.S. Lewis, our enjoyment in things is not complete until it is expressed in praise. So I wish tell you of a few things I received yesterday.

My sister, Charissa, gave me a coffee maker, from which I am drinking some Starbucks French Roast. The glory of this experience cannot be described in words.




Mom & Dad, Ian, Nathaniel, Josiah, and Kimberly went together to get me a new speaker system for my car. What a blessing it will be to crank Steven Curtis Chapman without it sounding like he's spitting.




My sister made a killer glazed strawberry pie. I tasted glorious, especially because the strawberries were freshly picked from our garden.




I received some other things too, such as a Starbucks card, Subway in the park with my dad, and new shoes from my Grandma.

I am so blessed by the people around me and thank God above all else because it is only through His infinite love for Himself that I have any value or worth. I would be not be where I am after 20 years without His sovereign, sustaining power.