M&M’s and Dancing.  That was my answer when my friend Lori asked me what I wanted for my 50th birthday.

It was also what I told my friend Shelly years ago that I wanted to have at my funeral.

And thank you, Jesus, those two events did not happen on the same day 🙂  We need to spread the love of chocolate out a little bit…

My mom had a phrase – “sweetness and light”.  I think she may have used it sarcastically when I was in a grumpy mood as a kid.

Sweetness and Light.

M&M’s and Dancing.

They are the same thing, aren’t they?  The sweetness of M&M’s and the lightness of Dancing.  I never put those two phrases together until right this minute and now it makes all the sense in the world to me.

For months I’ve been “anticipating” my 50th birthday.  I wasn’t sure why, but I knew it was going to have special meaning in some way.  That it would be the first day in a new decade of opportunities to love Jesus and others with a whole new twist and passion.

But I couldn’t have anticipated what happened over this past weekend.  Phenomenal God moments in conversations, in realizations, in celebrations,  in new “out of the blue” ideas and inspirations.  Phenomenal people, glorious interactions, new and clearer direction and a feeling of brand new oxygen in my lungs.

I got Sweetness and Light for my 50th birthday this past weekend.

I got M&M’s and Dancing for my 50th birthday this past weekend.

I am day one into my 50th year.  And I cannot even explain the energy I feel.  Beyond physical or mental energy.  A renewed spiritual energy.  Fresh eyes washed out with many thankful and “aha moment” tears.

If you’ve been reading this blog for long, you know that at the beginning of the year I chose the word “savor” as my mantra.  It has definitely been a year of savoring – of walking instead of running, of listening instead of talking, of enjoying the moments and letting them linger.

This weekend my friend Debbie shared her word with me – freedom.  And she’s letting me savor in the beauty of that word.

Because that’s what sweetness and light signify – freedom.

That’s what M&M’s and dancing represent – freedom.

And I think that’s what God has for me – Freedom in the Fifties.  In every imaginable way. Making my heart and soul all the more available to love Him and love others more fully, more deeply, more profoundly.

My friend Lori put this picture together for me and gave it to me last night (she gave me hundreds of custom M&M’s – Jana Like Dana and a bracelet with the words “I hope you dance”.)

Thank you to all of you who worked alongside Jesus to make this birthday full of sweetness and light that will last for the rest of my life.

Thank you for being part of my M&M’s and Dancing…xoxoxoxo

1 John 1:7 – But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other…

2 Samuel 6:14 – David was dancing before the LORD with all his might…

John 10:10 – I have come that they may have life,and have it to the full.