Birthday

Well, now two weeks later, I am finally writing about my birthday! 28. I officially feel old. I know, some of you are saying, "oh, that's young!" Others of you (especially most of my MTR friends) are saying, "um, yeah, you are old." Regardless, I am living in my 28th year. My birthday was by far one of the best I have had! It really was a great day.

A friend from Oklahoma started a tradition among my friends there. Each year as her birthday was nearing, she would pray and ask God to give her a word for the next year, so we all started doing the same. The word that God gave me for my 27th birthday was "fulfill." It's always so incredible to look back on a year and see meaning come to that word.

My 27th year was one filled with transition, closing one chapter, and starting another. While it was incredibly hard to say good-bye to a home and city and friends that I love, I believe that the biggest way that "fulfill" was brought to meaning was in God planting me in Memphis. I have said it before, I really feel like Memphis is home. But more than that, I really feel that I finally am settled in the mission/purpose that God has called me to. Not in the way that I was fighting his calling, but that for the past 5ish years I have kind of been a nomad - God moved me around in the things that He called me to. So when I committed to 4 years in Memphis, I thought, "I haven't been in one spot for that long in a while." But now the thought of doing or being a part of anything else, is unthinkable. It is hard to explain just how fulfilled in mission that I am with being a part of MTR. The things that God is doing and the hope of all that is to come through the MTR, is far too hard to explain or grasp if you are an outsider looking in. It is bigger than getting a masters, learning good teaching strategies, or simply teaching in an urban school for 3 years. It is a mission. A movement. We fully believe that God is going to break through time and space and perform miracles in urban education in order to bring justice to urban students, their families, and this nation. We are/will continue to work tirelessly to be the best urban educators that we can be in order for God's glory to shine. We will/are choosing to live our lives inside of God's Story in order to bring a glimpse of heaven to earth now while we await Jesus' return and final justice. All that to say, God has brought fulfillment in purpose/mission over this past year.

As I prayed this year for a new word, it took a few days for God to really settle one on my heart. This years word is Satisfy. "Satisfy us (me) each morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives." Ps. 90:14