Today is the Eve of my 26^th birthday. I have a lot of words when I reflect back on this past year. Twenty-five turned out to be potentially the best year yet, and I am sad to say goodbye to it. But in the spirit of optimism, I’m out to make 26 even better.

Tomorrow will be the full post, but since it is Friday (known affectionately by some friends as #blogday, or day). No matter what we call it, I couldn’t NOT post something today.

So here are some things that tomorrow will include:

• How accurate Taylor Swift lyrics are (haters gonna hate).
• What I’ve learned about fear.
• Pictures of some great people.
• What I’ve learned about the twenties.
• What celebrity I would like to run into in the grocery store.

Fun, right?

Here is what I will tell you today – as I begin the hour countdown to my birthday:

Celebrate. In the good and the hard times, celebrate where you are. We throw parties because something momentous has happened. But I think we need to throw parties more often. Not just for the big things, but for the little things. Maybe we should even throw parties when things suck. We should at least be together, building community and eating food – and that is what a party is anyways, right?

We always have a reason to celebrate because of who we are in Christ. Even when life is hard, we can be confident and JOYful in the fact that we are redeemed and resurrected into new life. We are no longer defined by our sin, we are defined by the freedom of living as Easter people.

We can celebrate because He is our portion. We don’t need anything else. With each year that passes I learn to believe and depend on that even more, and I hope that by the time I meet Jesus I will really fully understand that concept. My hopes for twenty six are very high, but for today, I will enjoy and revel in and celebrate my last day as a twenty-five year old. 🙂

Come back tomorrow for lots of fun pictures of me as a six year old!