on turning thirty

last weekend, i was preparing myself for the big event of turning thirty. and i realized that i have no house, no husband, no car, no computer, no job, and no kids. my monetary possessions (of note) consist of a bike, an old piano, and a lot of books. my reaction was a bit like: golly, i sound like a loser!!

but, of course, i say that with a bit of a laugh. when i was a teenager and asked what i expected of myself at thirty, i think that who i am now would have been considered pretty ´lame´. yet when i was a teenager, i was unhappy, unsure, and didn´t like myself. and now, i am filled with joy, peace, and generally like who God has shaped me to be. so the fact that i would now disappoint my teenage expections of thirty is probably a good thing :)

even though this wasn´t what i expected of thirty (and this is not where i expected to be - and what i expected to be doing), now that i am here, i wouldn´t want it any different. for i am generally content. i am doing what i love (studying the Bible). and have had quite a number of opportunities to teach (which i know is what God wants me to do with my life), and am in the middle of dialoguing for more such opportunities. i have a family who loves me - and who i love back. and that family is not only my immediate family (which keeps getting bigger and who i have grown to love more and more as i get older) but also the family of God in many different places.

and life is never dull. as i strive to be faithful to God, each day brings its own challenges and surprises and blessings.

today, my dissertation proposal got the go-ahead, so i can do a ´pilot´ with my master´s thesis (yay!). i acknowledged to my supervisor that not only was i going to be writing that thesis in the next 4 months, i would also be doing significant work on a previous thesis (which is not quite in the ideal challenge category). i used half a dozen languages today - too much English, Hungarian at breakfast and supper, German to order a book off Amazon, Hebrew as I translated Hosea 5:8-6:3, Dutch to communicate and find a flight home, and I received a late birthday card in Spanish (which i got a friend to translate). i biked home in the rain and got soaked. and i asked myself again and again what it means to love others - trying to be honest and gracious, encouraging, asking about others´ lives, and listening. and for all the love that i gave, i was more than loved and encouraged in return.

so how do i feel now about being thirty? i can´t thank God enough for how thankful I am for how He has worked in my life and continues to do so.