Still Working on My Masterpiece

And there we have it... the end of another birthday.  I am twenty-three now, folks.  I can't decide if that makes me feel old, or still impossibly young.  This means that it has been ten years since I was thirteen, five years since I was eighteen and in two years I will be twenty-five and half-way through my twenties.

Yikes.

Twenty-two was a pretty good year.  In that year, I got a new job and realized that I love (and hate) working with people and being in a customer service industry.  I met some fantastic co-workers who quickly became my good friends.  I met one of the best teachers I've ever had (you're the always the best, of course mom!) and with each day of classes and each new learning experience, realized that Hospitality is where God wants me to be right now, and I am enjoying every step of the journey.

I've developed some new and wonderful friendships - new blogging friends, new work friends, a new friend that I've actually known for a large chunk of my life but we finally met, permanently, and became excellent friends this year.  I've strengthened old friendships, and made the choice to say good-bye to a friendship that was falling apart.

I've become even closer with my closer with my siblings, and grown closer with family members.  I've fallen more and more in love each day with the wonderful man I am blessed to call my boyfriend.  God certainly knew what He was doing when He brought the two of us together, and I don't know what I would ever do without my dear Knight.

I've messed up a bit too, and had to learn some lessons.  Nothing major - thankfully - but I've learned the hard way that I need to stand up to people, that not everyone is honest, that there are people out there that will put up a nice face and be kind and generous on the surface but below that they are just out to help themselves.  I can't always be quiet and agreeable, I need to communicate more and say what I am thinking instead of keeping it inside.  It's okay for me to have my own opinion, and give it a voice.

If anything, I've learned this year that I'm still a work in progress.  I like to think that I've made some steps forward, and become more kind, more patient, more compassionate, more generous, more loving.  But I know that there are many times when I am not these things, when I fail and stumble.

I think that's why Jessie J's "Masterpiece" struck such a chord with me when I listened to it for the first time the other day.  In the past 36 hours, it's become my theme song for 23, in a way.  It's not your typical "Hey, I'm awesome and I'm perfect the way I am" kind of song, but it admits that "I mess up... I hit and miss" but that's okay, because I'm not finished yet.

I still fall on my face sometimes, and I can't color inside the lines

You haven't seen the best of me, I'm still working on my masterpiece

So here's to another year.  To 365 more days of getting even better in the areas I've improved in, and starting to work on the areas that still need a lot of help.  To working some more on my masterpiece.