29 Candles
Had you told me a year ago I'd be sitting pool side at a hotel in Siem Reap, Cambodia next to my husband of nearly 5 months, I don't know that I would have believed it.
But this is exactly where I find myself today, fighting off the last remnants of a head cold, contentedly full after a lunch consisting of a cheeseburger and banana/orange fruit shake at The Blue Pumpkin, and entirely grateful for my amazing husband journaling his own thoughts on the lounge chair next to me.
It's been a good 29 year journey to this current place. I've found it an easy temptation to evaluate where I'm at in life using only other people's journeys as my reference point. This allows me to pick and choose the way I perceive my own moments ("successes," "failures," and all of the in between) according to how I've judged the moments of others. I'm not sure where I picked up this unfortunate habit along the way, but I am certain it is not one that was intended for any beneficial purpose.
So today I am attempting to honestly ask myself where I'm at according to what the Lord would have for me.
-Am I seeking His best?
-Am I seeking Him?
-Am I serving those around me well?
-Am I attempting to love them without agenda?
-Am I stepping out of my comfort zone?
-Am I loving my husband well?
-Am I walking in the truth that I serve a powerful, loving, saving God?
-Am I setting myself up well for a year from now when these questions will surface again?
I've had a wonderful, relaxing birthday weekend so far courtesy of my husband and the town of Siem Reap. On Saturday we spent nine hours on a bus ride that would normally take five and a half (never try to leave Phnom Penh on a Cambodian national holiday). We have eaten amazing Mexican food, went to a war museum where they let you hold AK47's, went to a crocodile farm, dined at the Pizza Company (no trip would be complete without it), had foot massages, and tonight we finished the weekend by going to the FCC for dinner and finding a room with a pool table where one of us won both of the games we played (it's not important who won, but maybe you should always let the person whose birthday it is win...I think this seems fair).
As to not be selfish with this day of my birth, I will also wish a Happy Birthday to the (at least) 7 people I know who share the same day of celebration.
1. Haley King
2. Andrew Bartee
3. Melanie Bjornethun
4. Amanda Pearson
5. Deborah Bush
6. Daniel Vail
And last but certainly not least:
7. Bryant Gumbel
But this is exactly where I find myself today, fighting off the last remnants of a head cold, contentedly full after a lunch consisting of a cheeseburger and banana/orange fruit shake at The Blue Pumpkin, and entirely grateful for my amazing husband journaling his own thoughts on the lounge chair next to me.
It's been a good 29 year journey to this current place. I've found it an easy temptation to evaluate where I'm at in life using only other people's journeys as my reference point. This allows me to pick and choose the way I perceive my own moments ("successes," "failures," and all of the in between) according to how I've judged the moments of others. I'm not sure where I picked up this unfortunate habit along the way, but I am certain it is not one that was intended for any beneficial purpose.
So today I am attempting to honestly ask myself where I'm at according to what the Lord would have for me.
-Am I seeking His best?
-Am I seeking Him?
-Am I serving those around me well?
-Am I attempting to love them without agenda?
-Am I stepping out of my comfort zone?
-Am I loving my husband well?
-Am I walking in the truth that I serve a powerful, loving, saving God?
-Am I setting myself up well for a year from now when these questions will surface again?
I've had a wonderful, relaxing birthday weekend so far courtesy of my husband and the town of Siem Reap. On Saturday we spent nine hours on a bus ride that would normally take five and a half (never try to leave Phnom Penh on a Cambodian national holiday). We have eaten amazing Mexican food, went to a war museum where they let you hold AK47's, went to a crocodile farm, dined at the Pizza Company (no trip would be complete without it), had foot massages, and tonight we finished the weekend by going to the FCC for dinner and finding a room with a pool table where one of us won both of the games we played (it's not important who won, but maybe you should always let the person whose birthday it is win...I think this seems fair).
As to not be selfish with this day of my birth, I will also wish a Happy Birthday to the (at least) 7 people I know who share the same day of celebration.
1. Haley King
2. Andrew Bartee
3. Melanie Bjornethun
4. Amanda Pearson
5. Deborah Bush
6. Daniel Vail
And last but certainly not least:
7. Bryant Gumbel
Comments
October 22 is my 38th and I don't do candles or I'd burn the place down.
Collette G