When I turned 30, I declared it my ‘Epic year.’ And it turned out to be just that: Together, with my husband, we restored the gym that was our mentor’s. I learned how to run a business and all that that entails. I became a USAG certified coach. I trained a group of girls to be level 4 gymnasts and coached them through a season, one of which became state vault champion (vault is my best event to coach because it’s the closest to running). I also coached another championship winning cross country team. And I still kept my day job teaching and got the best EOC scores I have ever gotten from a biology class that became my most favorite class ever. My 30th year brought crazy financial blessing. Having the gym also gave me the chance to travel more than I ever have, including a trip to one of the most beautiful beaches in the country. At 30 I worked more hours and ran more miles than I ever have. I ran another marathon and hit a 10K P.R. I made new friends, and helped my sister deliver another baby. I slept less and partied more. All this and somehow Mark and I still had crazy fun times and fell more in love. 30 was epic…
But then 31 approached and I was not feeling epic at all. In fact I was feeling pretty crappy. For the last few weeks I have dealt with reoccurring sinus infections and bouts of insomnia. I’ve had knee pain and pulled back muscles. All of these have inhibited me from getting the miles in I am used to running. I gained weight and couldn’t seem to lose it. I was so tired and losing motivation quickly and 31 was beginning to feel like OLD. I was not dealing with it well. I wasn’t declaring any epicness, I was declaring aging…
Mark, my ever wise and enlightening husband told me to stop declaring such negativity. That I would receive what I declared. This is a spiritual principle after all. Was 30 so epic by chance? No, it wasn’t! When I turned 30 I was super plugged in to the Father because of all the crazy faith stuff that had just happened with us buying the gym. And when you are tuned in to God, you are aware of his plans for you, his epic plans! God declared 30 to be epic for me and all I had to do is see it and choose to walk in it. So was I going to do the same at 31? A week ago it didn’t look like it.
But then yesterday I received a word from a most unlikely place: Twitter! So I was checking my twitter feed and one of my friends, Jacquelin Simmers had posted a verse from Proverbs: “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing but the glory of kings is to search out a thing.” And it really stood out to me afresh. I even went to look up the address to see where exactly it was and read the verse in other translations. Then later that day (I still wasn’t out of my funk) I was praying and I prayed this simple prayer: ‘What am I searching for?” and God answered “joy” and I knew He was right, where had my joy gone? So then I prayed “Where do I find joy specifically?” and God led me to 1 Chronicles 16:27 which says “Majestic splendor emanates from Him, He is the source of strength and joy” And at that moment all my neurons connected and I saw the plan for 31. This is the year of the treasure hunt! This year is about searching and going after the treasures of God that he intentionally hides within Himself so that we will go after Him! The epic year left me feeling more Queenly than ever and it is my glory to search out these things. In my year of the treasure hunt I will find my treasures. And I already know where to search. And as is always the case with God’s gifts, I expect they will be even greater treasures than I can right now imagine.
Last night after coaching at the gym, Mark said I could go pick out a special birthday wine(that means I could spend more than $25). I had planned on getting a chocolate block which is a delicious but expensive wine Mark and I only get on special occasions. But I couldn’t find it so I was perusing the shelf of higher end wines and reading the reviews and I read a description that looked good and went to grab the bottle and guess what the name of the wine was: ‘treasure hunter’! So last night I drank my birthday wine and declared to Mark that 31 was the year of the treasure hunt! He said he had gotten a prophecy for me earlier in the day that confirmed that too.
So there it is. Today I turn 31. I finished an epic year and now I begin my treasure hunt.
