Hi guys! Today I am 36 years old. I swore I wouldn’t write a novel but I have a few things to say. This year feels different. It feels sacred. It feels personal. It feels like a renewal that God has been preparing for me long before I ever understood what He was doing.
For a long time, I moved through life in survival mode. Loving everybody, showing up for everybody, doing everything I thought I was supposed to do. But somewhere in all that moving, I lost parts of myself. This year, at 36, I found them again but not by accident. I found them because I found God in a deeper way than I ever have before.
Not the “pray when I need something” relationship. Not the “God I know You’re there, but I’m busy” relationship.
But the real one. The daily one. The one where I sit with Him, talk to Him, listen to Him, and (still learning) daily to trust Him even when I feel worried.
And that relationship changed everything.
For the first time, I feel like I am entering a chapter that is mine not the one people expect from me, or the one I felt I owed the world around me. I am stepping into a version of myself that I love. A version that honors my spirit, my voice, my boundaries, my joy, and my purpose.
What I’m Leaving Behind at 35:
- Saying yes when my spirit was saying no
- Trying to carry everyone else’s emotions on my back
- Shrinking myself to keep peace
- Believing I had to do everything alone
- Forgetting that I matter too
What I’m Taking Into 36:
- A deeper relationship with God guiding every move
- Peace I don’t negotiate
- Confidence in my worth as a woman, wife, and mother
- Space to grow outside of motherhood
- Rest without guilt
- Friendships rooted in love, truth, and alignment
This year, I learned that I can be a mother and still be me.
I can love my family and still love myself.
I can be a wife and still have dreams, goals, and joy that belong to solely me.
I used to think choosing myself meant choosing against them. Now I know choosing myself actually helps them. When I am full spiritually, mentally, emotionally I can love better. I can show up better. I can give from overflow instead of exhaustion.
That is growth. That is maturity. That is God.
I feel grateful. I feel grounded. I feel expectant.
36 is not about becoming a new person.
It’s about becoming the person God always intended me to be.
So here’s to more faith.
More love.
More laughter in my home.
More peace in my mind.
More purpose in my steps.
Here’s to a year of being full mind, body, and soul.
Here’s to me! Here’s to 36.
