day 19: celebration.

.CELEBRATION. 

I will confess that I'm posting this late [and a little bit fast] because I have Tobuscus YouTube date scheduled with my baby brother, and we both wanna get on that :) SO, without further ado. celebration. 

The word celebration brings back a host load of memories for me, the most memory full one being Celebration Retreat spent in the mountains a year and one month ago. But that's most definitely a story for another place, another heart emptying, and another time. 

There is so much in my life to celebrate, I'm not entirely sure where to start. 

-my family-

the one I was born to and the one I've been given in pieces throughout the last 20 years

-my placement-

I can honestly say I've been given the opportunity to live in three of the most beautiful states ... but then again I'm a little bit biased 

[texas, southcarolina, georgia]

-my memories-

good & bad, these are some of my most treasured possessions 

-grace-

last year, I read 1000 Gifts by Ann Voskamp

She introduced the idea that every trial, joy, celebration, heartbreak and memory we encounter is a grace gift from a perfectly good God 

it's changed the way I look at people, opportunities, and hard circumstances

if you can read it, do. 

These were only 4 things, but they tap 4 major areas of my heart. To me celebration means rejoicing in the completion of a lengthy and arduous task set before you. It means graduations from childhood to adulthood, from selfishness to selflessness, from death to life, from tears to laughter, from hopelessness to joy, from youthful thinking to maturity. 

It is rejoicing in the shift from one section of life or one heart attitude to another. 

from finite to eternity 

"I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent" 
-Luke 15:7-