If you read the post I did around this time last year, just before I turned 30, you’d remember that I mentioned how I disliked the age 30 because of the weight of the expectations people placed on turning 30. I didn’t understand it then and I still do not understand it now.
Looking back at Chapter 30 as I prepare to cross over to 31, I wonder why we love unnecessary pressure on ourselves!
Chapter 30 was absolutely phenomenal! I can’t even find the right word to describe it but what I see in my spirit as I write this is a dam that broke and the waters gushing out with full force. Yes, that was my experience as a 30 year old.
I felt free. Free to be Adedoyin. Free to live. Free to love. Free to chase after God with everything in me. No hindrances. No limitations.
If there’s one thing I am absolutely grateful for, it is the fact that I didn’t compromise. I am glad I did not allow people pressure me to get married when I just wasn’t ready to do so. I am glad God gave me the strength to push through and follow the path I believed He was calling me on. It wasn’t easy and the fruits of it were not immediately apparent but I knew I’d live a life of constant regrets if I didn’t go on this path. I am grateful I was able to step out of my comfort zone and venture into territoties that I ran away from previously. My twenties were extra fulfilling because I did everything God laid in my heart to do.
Perhaps, what I am most grateful for is the fact that I was able to submit to the fullness of God’s healing power over my heart and I was able to allow Him to dismantle the last layer of the walls I had built around my heart. I embraced vulnerability in a way I have never done and it was so refreshing. The things I thought were so shameful about my life and past, God used it to bring healing to so many others.
I was also able to love strangers like I had known them my whole life. Yes, opening my heart to love was one of the most significant things that happened to me in Chapter 30. To be able to love unconditionally, to give of myself with no reservation to those in my tribe and pour out my love for God with reckless abandon. It’s such a beautiful thing and I couldn’t have asked for anything better.
In five days, I’ll be 31 and I am excited about the next phase of the adventure that will unfold. Yes, my life is an adventure with the Father. I am no longer in control and a lot of times, I don’t even know what to expect. But I know that my life will always be better with God by my side and all around me. I am nervous yet very excited about what Abba will do through me. In Chapter 30, He led me to create a community that has over 400 communications professionals, write a book (totally didn’t see that one coming), work on so many impactful projects, handhold several women in their transition journey and much more. Even with my immediate family, I saw the hand of God in grand ways and He placed me in a tribe of wonderful sisters, brothers, fathers and mothers.
My heart is filled with so much joy and gratitude! Chapter 30 turned out better than I could have ever dreamed despite all the drama of 2020.
One thing I will always remember from this Chapter is this – God is the one who decides the times and seasons of our lives. I can’t forget that conversation I had with Him this year. He said, “According to whose standard or definition is something early or late? By whose agenda do you determine that a miracle or blessing arrived late? If I have ordained for a person to have children by 35, that child is on time at 35, according to My plans and purposes.”
You have no idea how much weight was lifted off me after this conversation. Everything in my life happens according to God’s perfect timing and purpose. Isn’t that so liberating? I no longer live my life by the timing and agenda of men; I live it in alignment with the perfect timing of God.
If there’s something you’re waiting on God for or it looks like everyone has gone ahead of you, please remember that God is in control of the times and seasons of your life. In His perfect time, that thing will manifest. Trust me. Knowing this will give you peace but most importantly, choose to remain joyful in all seasons of your life. A lot of things we carry on our head are not the main priority of God for our lives! Never forget who is in control of your life.
I enter Chapter 31 with much gratitude because I am doing life with the best person ever – my Abba!
One Response