Exciting times ahead :)

“Madam, you are getting old!” my beautiful bright-eyed 16 year old student said as a comment to yet another mistake I made as I scribbled the solution to a very long and tedious mathematics question on the board. It was just one of those day where I was so spaced out. A primary school student could have pointed out the mistakes I was making hence her smart-alec retort. And yes, my students call me ‘madam’ instead of ‘miss’. I’m young and single…of course I’m not thrilled about being called madam (haha!). Anyway, going back to my story. My student had this glee on her face obviously very pleased with herself. For a while I thought, ‘oh yikes, I’m getting older’….but the more I thought about questions like ‘am I doing what I like?’ and ‘what I’ve achieved to date?’, I actually felt good! This is new cause I’m usually quite critical of myself. It is definitely a positive sign for a ‘Recovering Perfectionist’ such as myself :). By the way, note how we have those reflective thoughts when its our birthday or the start of a new year. This birthday is different – I feel good, excited even.

This year for my birthday, I am doing something different. I started my own short fast for 7 days (7 as it biblically represents perfection) before my birthday. Fasts are never easy for me (for others too…but for different reasons) cause I have sudden cravings….and its random! Like a pregnant woman (laugh). Plus, due to health reasons I am not able to take a full fast. Due to the health reasons, I took a liquid fast. The reason I am saying this is because as I have been fasting I realise that it is no good if I fast without spending time with God. The point of the fast is to seek God as I celebrate my 28th year and move into the next. I do not want to fast for the sake of fasting but with the purpose of seeking and surrendering my life to God. To rely on Him as my source of strength and hear from Him. As much as fasting may categorise me as a ‘religious person’, I do not want to be a religious person but a person that is seeking a deeper relationship with my Saviour. I need Him. I’m nothing without Him. He makes me a better person. On my own….I’m full of sin. As I seek Him, He reveals the secret of my heart that He needs to 'renew and regenerate' (Titus 3:5). I’m sharing this because I know this fast has helped me and perhaps you might want to do the same for your birthday as a consecration.

I’m a list maker. This year my aim is to make Him my priority – in my personal life, family, job, etc. I do not know where this year will take me but its never been a bore with Him by my side. My soul soars as I look into this coming year and I am full of hope and faith.

‘The Recovering Perfectionist’