Thirty, Flirty and Thriving

Two out of three isn't bad. I have ZERO skills at flirting. If I have flirted before, it has been on accident and I doubt I could duplicate it. Oh well...this post is not really about flirting (thank God) it's about my surprise birthday weekend. But what woman turning 30 doesn't quote the famous line from 'Thirteen Going on Thirty'?

I'm so thankful for my friends. They know me, they love me, they care about the things I care about and they made me feel SO special this weekend. This weekend was my surprise, birthday getaway. My friends did awesome at keeping all the details a secret including lying to me if I flat out asked them if they were going. I tried really hard not to ruin the surprise...

The weekend was perfect. Being in the mountains always makes me happy but then add in lots of wonderful conversations and tons of laughs, good food, good time with the Lord and pampering on so many levels, and that's my recipe for perfection.

In my quiet time on Sat. morning I was meditating on delight...specifically the Lord's delight in me. I don't think I accept that He delights in me and I was asking the Lord to show me truth about myself and to show me His delight. It's not outward appearance that He delights in but the inner parts of my heart. I felt my friends delight in me this weekend, specifically in my character. They made me a beautiful scrapbook filled with pictures and notes and I was touched to tears to receive it. I think that was part of the way the Lord was revealing His delight in me as well.

Too often I measure myself by the world's standards instead of by the Lord's standards. I see so many external parts of me that I am not happy with (hence the many blogs about weight loss) but my prayer this weekend and my hope for my 30s is that the Lord would help me measure myself by His standards and that I would be more concerned with the shape of my heart than I am with the shape of my body. This does not mean I'm throwing out all my healthy practices...but that I will add in more time with Him.

The scrapbook that my friends gave me has pictures from the last 7 years and seeing them is probably what really brought me to tears. In the pictures, I look 'bigger'. My face is fuller, my body is heavier. I was encouraged to realize that I have already come a long way in my personal health and weight loss goals and it encourages me to keep on going.

Highlights from this weekend were the drive to the mountains, the wonderful women who gave up their time and money to celebrate me, the food catered to my specific tastes, the hike, the morning devos, the hat game, random sayings about hair and pants, the beautiful scenery around the house, the 80s hair and make-up, the manicure, the movie, the scrapbook, the laughs, the hugs, the conversations, the gifts and cards representing 30 in some way, the prayers, the encouragement, the photo shoot, the porch swing, and the realization that I have such great friends.