Thursday, November 11, 2010

Only just beginning

So my birthday is a little over a week away and I am going to be 40!  Really I am mostly excited.  I have been telling people I was almost 40 basically all year.  39 is sort of a nothing age.  You aren't young enough to be thought of as a young 30 something but you aren't old enough to take credit for the wisdom of 40.  You are stuck in a holding pattern.

I know some people want to hold on to that youth.  Be that 30 something as long as they can legitimately hold on to it.  While youth is fun and has its advantages I prefer being old.  30 was good, 40 is better, 50 will be great and on and on.  Every year of my life is better than the year before.  More learning, more growth, more wisdom, more understanding, more knowledge, more experiences, more, more, more.  I love getting older!  I don't get the worlds obsession with youth.  They may be fresh faced and full of energy but they have no idea what they are doing or what they are talking about. 

I on the other hand have lived life.  I have done it right and I have done it wrong.  I have had wonderful experiences and I have experienced tragedy.  I have spoken every thought I had and have kept quiet.  I have been proud. I have been humiliated.  I have taken risks.  I have made mistakes.  I have learned.  I have listened.  I have grown.

And really at 40 I am in many ways just beginning my life. 

Last year I wrote about how John and I have always said, "when we are 40..." in a way that implied that it was a future date so far away anything is possible.  Yet we never made actual plans to accomplish any of those "when we are 40" goals living as if we never would be 40.  Yet SURPRISE here it is.  Now we are saying, "when we retire..." feeling like that future date is so far away we can accomplish anything.  And yet we have learned from the last 20 years of our life that those future dates do indeed come whether you planned for them or not.

So now at 40 (John) and very, very, very close to 40 (me) we are beginning our lives again.  Planning for the dreams of retirement and all the things we want to do in between.  And excited to see how God works in our lives during the next 2 decades of our lives mindful of all the amazing things he has done during these first 2 decades of our adult lives.

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