Reflections

Turning 40 has been a lot of fun. I have had some great dinners, a party, & have gotten some sweet gifts. (Gifts are my love language)

A few days ago, I was sitting in the cafe at Barnes & Noble. I was journaling & planning to do some work & for a rare moment both my kids were sitting with me & were not arguing.  Lawson flipped through a magazine while Bella was reading. That quiet moment left me thanking God for the gift of summer, for changing seasons, for my friends, for my husband, for Law, & for Bella. 

I have been given so much in life. I hope I have a lot more life to live but even so, it’s been a marvelous ride thus far. Not perfect & not always easy but marvelous all the same:)

I have been super reflective since turning 40. (Can you tell?) It’s a milestone birthday like #16, #21, & #30.  It has me thinking on my first 40 years – what they looked like  & what my next 40 will look like. 

The first 40 were my birth, childhood, getting an education, falling in love, working & establishing a career then marrying & birthing kids. The next 40 will look very different – my kids will only continue to grow so they will graduate school, get married & have kids of their own. Brad and I will grow older and we might even get to retire so this second half of life will pan out a lot differently than the first half.  Time marches on.  I sure I hope I can be old and wise and not just old:) 

In our formative years, I don’t think we can fathom what the stages of life will look like.  I know for a fact one thing that I didn’t anticipate as a child. From a child’s eyes, 40 is old so I assumd by 40 I would have it all figured out.  I figured I would have accomplished all my dreams and would be on the downhill slide to life on a beach or something.  The mind of a child is not always realistic and it shouldn’t be because children’s minds are designed to dream & imagine so encourage your kids to dream often.  There will be plenty of time for adulting.  

Guess what?  Now that I have reached 40, I  can certify that I still have dreams & I still have goals to accomplish.   What a travesty it would be if I didn’t still have dreams!  In my earlier years I always assumed that I would be completely settled by the time I reached 40. I guess in many ways I am settled  but I still have so much to do! At a couple of points along my career path, I had the big corner office, with a fancy title & nice salary & the world told me that’s all there is. That was the goal & I had arrived.  I am so glad to know today there is so much more to life & just as there is no one perfect size or weight, there is no perfect age to chase your calling.  I think by 40 most of us are just figuring out exactly what it is that we want to do or maybe we are finally ready to answer the call God has placed on our hearts!  The good news is that if you are called, all the details will fall into place!  I am going to start on my book and see what else is in store for my next forty years!  Keep chasing dreams, Sisters!

I am pledging that this is gonna be my best decade yet. Get out there and have a great day!

xoxo,

Jodi