The Big 3-0.

Turned 30. That happened. I'm on some next level stuff now. Feel like we need some bullet points.

• I've secretly been telling people that i'm 30 for the last two months to soften the blow. But now that it is the reality it still stings a lil bit.
• My favorite game of asking people how old they think I am has taken a turn for the nasty ever since people found out I have a kid. Instead of the normal "You could be in college" I'm getting "34". Richard is getting upset.
• It kinda went down a lil bit in my 20's! Graduated from College. Dated the girl I wanted to marry. Married that girl I wanted to marry. moved into the smallest living compartment known to man. Moved into a house with my wife. Hit almost every academy in the United States. Went on a few vacations. Traveled with my pals. Spent thousands of dollars on worthless Chiefs season tickets that brought me more sorrow then joy. Started a stupit blog. Bought a stupit camera. Digested zero milk properly. Had the Jayhawks win the national championship the year I got married. Won two intramural basketball championships and a church league championship. Lost pretty much everything else. Met a ton of people that became my close friends. Stayed close with people that will be my life long friends. Got Natalie pregnant. Had a beautiful baby girl. Became a father. 
• On a more serious note: Learned what it is to be a husband. Spent some time being a bootsy husband. Tried to figure out what it means to be a good husband. Thought about myself first. Tried to think of others first. Had some professional failures. Had some success. Disappointed people that were close to me. Got disappointed and discouraged in my people. Made a ton of mistakes.Was forgiven. Forgave. Spent some time with Jesus as an acquaintance. Spent some time with Jesus as a friend. Saw my grandparents pass. Cried with my family. Got closer to my folks. Learned how much they love me. Saw my sister get married. Prayed for my brother when he was across the world. Cried with my homeys when our people didn't make it. Celebrated their successes. 
• The take away from this last decade and the two before it is that God has been so good to me and my family. I can not praise him enough. He has blessed me more then I can imagine. He has blessed me more then I deserve. I have a wonderful family that is my heart. I have parents that trained me to love the Lord. I have an amazing twin sister that glorifies Jesus with everything she does.  I have a brother who has been through it all and at the end of the day trusts in Jesus's name. I have friends that love me as much as they love themselves. I have a wife that loves me even though I am selfish. She loves me even after I have hurt her. She has put up with my traveling and my wanting to be involved with everything. She has been the most patient mother and I praise God that she had horrible sense back in 06 when we started dating. She made me the luckiest dude around.
• So happy that my sister is here. We haven't been around each other for our birthday since we turned 22. Finally get to celebrate my birthday with my best friend again.
• My testimony is and always will be how good He has been to me!