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Do I feel any different today than yesterday? Not in particular. Yet today is a day of some reflection for me. I’ve now lived in Seattle for 18 months. I’ve been out of school for 21 months. At the same time, college doesn’t seem so long ago, and yet I feel like so many things have happened since then. From a year ago, I can certainly say that I’ve found a community here in Seattle. Friends at work, my church, from school and people I meet randomly have been a huge blessing to me. I am truly grateful for all the people I’ve gotten to know since moving to Seattle. At the same time, I’ve been able to keep in touch with some friends from high school and college thanks to the power of the internets and multiple trips back to the Bay Area and Houston. So, I’m thankful for all of you as well.

Sometimes I feel all mature and grown-up, worrying about taxes, bills and other grown-up stuff. And other times I just want to play video games, stay up all night reading a good book, or I have irrational thoughts and want to act infantile. I realize that I still have a long way to go. But I think that’s a good thing; I don’t ever want to stop feeling like a kid at heart.

Some exciting things to look forward to this year include running the Vancouver marathon, developing my photography business, establishing a nonprofit to benefit kids’ education in the Philippines, and more. I’m excited about the dreams, visions, and goals God has put on my heart, and I hope that I continue to get the great support I’ve been receiving from my friends.

I feel old in a way. I always have looked up to my brother Oliver, and a lot of my memories of him are from his early twenties when he was teaching high school science, and before he was diagnosed with colon cancer. You see, it wasn’t long after his 25th birthday that doctors told him that cancer would claim his life within 2 years. Luckily he decided to follow his heart and ‘throw away’ his Chemical Engineering degree and follow his passion for teaching. In another year, I’ll be 25 - the age he found out his life was beginning to end. Am I following my heart? Am I motivated by my passions? I think I’m doing these things to a certain degree, but I realize that life is finite. We honestly don’t know how long we’ll be here for.

Here’s me trying to look all reflective while admiring the Hawaiian landscape last year.

I titled my post with the beginning lyrics of the song ‘24′ by Switchfoot. I never really thought about the lyrics, but since I’m celebrating this number today, maybe I can reflect a little bit on them, among other things. The last verse goes:

I want to see miracles, see the world change
Wrestled the angel, for more than a name
For more than a feeling
For more than a cause
I’m singing Spirit take me up in arms with You
And You’re raising the dead in me
Twenty four voices
With twenty four hearts
With all of my symphonies
In twenty four parts

A lot of these things are true for me. I want to see miracles and change the world. And yet I know it’s not for my glory, but for God’s. I have a lot of crazy ideas and passions and I trust that He’ll guide me along the way.