Life…and turning 40

This day is just like many, many other days. I spent the day yesterday throwing up from yet another pregnancy, and am trying to recover today with removing some things from my schedule. We got the kids off to school, fed the dog, checked on the chickens, gave the baby a bottle and now a nap, did some dishes, swept a few floors, and will prepare for two more soccer games for two of the boys this evening. I set out the ingredients for dinner and will spend some time making sure I have my plan in place for who needs to be picked up and dropped off at what location at which time…

Besides the sweet breakfast Matt brought me from the little country store down the street there really isn’t much to be said for today being different or out of the ordinary.

And yet there is a sobering awareness that this day is also very significant. It isn’t just any birthday. It’s the “big” birthday. The huge one. The half way point. The black balloon birthday. The “welcome to the club” birthday.

Forty always seemed so far off, so “down the road,” so “I’m not there yet.” Even when Matt turned the big 4-0 two years ago and my sister (who is 13 months older) just last year, it still seemed a ways off for me. I can’t say I have thought much about it, until this past week. 

A friend turned forty a few months ago and his comment about it made me laugh at the time. He said, “I’m excited to finally turn forty because now people will take me more seriously.” 

Maybe that’s true! Maybe people taking me more seriously is the mindset I need to give a bit of a silver lining to this big black birthday! I certainly thought by now I would have more figured out and maybe now with this new big number behind my name I can simply pretend that I do! Maybe this arrival into official adulthood is just the ticket!

Or maybe…maybe this birthday doesn’t matter at all whether or not people take me more seriously. Maybe this big 4-0 number isn’t about what others think whatsoever… 

Maybe, just maybe, this day is just like all of the others after all…because maybe it is about God Himself reminding me yet again where to place my value and where to put my hope. 

I feel an overwhelming sense of peace and calm today. Today I am reminded that every breath, every moment, everything I have is all a gift. My days are numbered, my years have been counted and I don’t want to waste any bit of the time I have been given. We are not promised tomorrow.

Through these past few years, God has shown me repeatedly that hope is not found when life gets easy or when everything comes together as we desire.

Peace does not automatically show up upon any one arrival, place, stage or age.

And joy is not granted when we finally figure it all out, when we get everything in order, or when we have accomplished what we set out to do. 

The truth is actually found in the opposite. God draws us to Himself right in the middle of the crazy, the unexpected and the messy. You and I don’t have to wait for everything to come together, or for us to finally get things just right in order to see His goodness and know His presence right now.

So, today, I ask, not where I am going or what do I hope to accomplish, but instead, how am I doing? How am I handling this journey? Am I being faithful with what He has given me? Am I walking with Him, enjoying Him, pursuing Him in the everyday? Or am I pining, striving, or chasing the things that do not matter in life, including youth? Am I wishing and pouting for that which He hasn’t given? How am I stewarding, caring, and looking after what is right in front of me, today? 

Today, to celebrate my birthday, I am giving away two signed copies from my friend, Lysa Terkheurst’s, latest book, “It’s Not Supposed To Be This Way.”  Go to my INSTAGRAM for more details on how to enter to win. I’ll also be giving away a few more gifts from some of my favorite companies this coming week so stay tuned! 

With grace and love…from my super “serious” 40 self! lol!

Meg

My sweet friend Ruth Chou Simons from Gracelaced wrote an article a few years ago when she turned 40. It stuck with me then and I felt that her words were worth owning and soaking up for my life too. This post was heavily infused with some of her original thoughts and feelings about this big birthday and I felt she deserves all of the credit for my words posted here. If you do not yet follow her you should! She is an amazing inspiration and woman of God. Thank you Ruth for sharing your life and heart with so many. .