Yesterday, I celebrated 38 years of life. 

If you asked me ten years ago if, at 38, I would be divorced, doing the single parenting thing, and rediscovering myself in a different career, I would have laughed myself into a drunken stupor. But the reality is, here I am. Four years later, here I am, a single parent, and I have just walked away from the beauty business to relaunch myself as an artist after a 2-year hiatus.

Most would say a mid-life crisis. No! I think it’s pursuing my dreams – taking a chance on myself and hustling every moment to make things happen. This birthday wasn’t full of girls’ night outs, fancy drinks, and tons of celebrating as in the past. I spent Friday night at dinner with family, and on my actual birthday, I worked a wedding, attended evening church, and had a quiet dinner with my sweet kiddo watching a Gator win. It wasn’t good or bad compared to the past; it was different, and I enjoyed it.

As the weekend ended, I reflected on the beginning of the year, where I got a Word that carries me through the year, it’s always an area of my life where the Lord wants to see me grow. Sometimes, I embrace it, but embarrassingly enough, I usually fight it. This year was different, though. I needed this word and have hung on to the word “Expectant” like a death grip, but I haven’t acted on it. Until recently, there has been such a drastic shift in my mindset as I embraced it these last few weeks. I may have waited until the 11th hour to act on it, but I plan to execute like a boss the next 90 days we have left in 2018. As I crawled into my bed on my birthday, I realized I was delighted and expectant for the next year of life I had been blessed with.