One week from today I will turn 31 years old, and without a doubt the last 51 weeks of my life have been my best yet.

For the sake of reflection and appreciation to my Heavenly Father, who is the giver of every good gift, here are the top 12 highlights from my 30th year of life:

Celebrated 8 years of marriage to my wife Rebekah in Seattle, WA. (September 2012)
Ordained as a Pastor and enjoyed watching the Giants win their second World Series in three years! (October)
Preached Thanksgiving message at Crossroads entitled, "Realistic Expectations of God." (November)
Officiated my first funeral and gave a message entitled "Faith vs. Works" on the last Sunday of the year at Crossroads Church. (December)
Moved to Oakland with my wife to start a church from scratch. (January 2013)
Led, theRETREAT, a final getaway with my high school students from Exchange. (February)
Enjoyed a night of appreciation given by the Exchange High School Ministry. (March)
Started job as Lead Pastor of theMOVEMENT church. (April)
Completed a fundraising campaign, that brought in over $200,000, to fund the launch of our church. (May)
Officiated the wedding of my dear friends Spencer and Lanae Romero and led a team of 70+ volunteers to execute theMOVEMENT's first public service. (June)
Hosted theMOVEMENT's second public service at Mills College in Oakland. (July)
Privileged to be the camp speaker at Horizon's 2013 Summer Retreat. (August)

I am blessed.

And because I am currently in a season of my life where there are so many unanswered questions and uncertainties, it's refreshing to remind myself of how God has had His hand over me this past year. It's refreshing to recount all of His blessings. It's refreshing to remember how faithful God has been even when, at times, I have been unfaithful.

Reflection is refreshing, and the reality is, I don't have to wait until my birthday every year to wait to be refreshed by reflection!

I can do this any day of the year!