Turning 30 was monumental for me, but not as I expected it to be. I can say that my thirtieth birthday was the one I’ll always remember.

One year ago, at 3 AM, my foot slipped on our stairs as I was carrying my two-year-old. She came away with a tiny bruise. I came away with a broken arm and a passel of lessons learned. [From last year – The Spirit is Willing]

I had never had a broken bone before that day I turned 30. It’s not that I haven’t deserved one; it’s that I’ve never been the gymnast-climber-risk-taking type, more accurately summarized as “I’ve been lucky.”

In honor of being a year older and, perhaps, a year wiser, here is a summary of the lessons I learned in this fateful year:

  1. Amazing things can happen in one year, even when you’re not looking. One year ago, when I broke my arm, I had no idea I would be holding an infant in my arms by my next birthday. God’s grace and love for us is so great that it can create a new human being in the span of time between birthdays! [From last year – Announcement is Coming and Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice]
  2. When you swallow your pride and ask for help, stand back and open the door. I sent an email to some friends, asking for help. It wasn’t easy to do. I’m a naturally self-reliant kind of gal. But the outpouring of support was enough to convince me that God’s not the only one who loves me. (I don’t often need this kind of convincing, and I didn’t even know I needed it then.) [From last year – Swallowing my Pride]
  3. In beating back PoorMe, I will find myself closer to God and more willing to accept his will. PoorMe is that voice in my head who insists that things are worse than I could imagine, who reassures me that I should feel sorry for myself, and who can transform from a whisper to a wail with the least bit of prompting. She was pretty loud in my head last year at about this time, and it took some sharp objects for me to get her back in her little room. Once I got her there, with God’s help, I could appreciate the half-full state of my glass and the blessings inherent in my state of life. [From last year – PoorMe]

Well, those aren’t the ONLY things I learned, but I would say they are the top things. And with that, I’m off to do my mommily duties and enjoy a day of rain and January Thaw here in Buckeyeland.