34

Maria Dautruche
Aug 9, 2017 · 2 min read

Yesterday was my birthday. (Happy belated birthday to me!) Today I realize that I spent my time yesterday, and the days leading up to my birthday, reflecting on an awesome #jesusyear, rather than celebrating the dawn of a new age.

On August 8, 2016 I turned 33 years old. I asked a friend to photograph my day, so even 366 days later, I have a detailed reminder of how I spent my time on that day. I went to work with my 6 month old daughter in tow. I had lunch with a coworker and got my makeup done on the way to a civic event after work. My husband met us at the event, and then we went home. I asked my friend to document my day because I remember thinking, “I’m going to want to remember how I spent this day because my life is going to change this year.” Recently on the other side of that projection, I don’t think my life changed that much. I changed.

I went into 33 with a lot of expectations. I expected something to happen. I expected stuff to start making sense. I expected horizons to come into view and for my pieces of my life to start adding up to some sum of something I could be proud of or enjoy. I took my #jesusyear seriously, almost literally and actually hoping whatever needed to die in me would do just that and that anything that needed to be resurrected would come back to life. I must say the year exceeded my expectations. I suppose saying, “It was my best year yet” could be misleading without some context because it’s not as if August 2016-August 2017 was a predominantly positive experience. What it was was full and complete. My life felt full, and even in the disappointing and frustrating and confusing moments, I didn’t feel overwhelmed. And when I did feel overwhelmed, I was overwhelmed with gratitude for people’s overwhelming love for me.

The past two days, I’ve been led to the same scripture:

“When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things.” — 1 Corinthians 13:11(NLT)

I had a great childhood, and I was a good kid. However, it’s time now. It’s time to walk into 34 with a more mature approach — more intention, more accountability, more love, more power, more humility. I want to live my best life on my own terms. Here goes…