Reflecting on My 30's

This is my last regular post before the big 4-0, so I thought I would take a few minutes to reflect on this decade I've just (about) completed!

I'm sure it won't surprise any of you to know that back in 2008, I crafted a thirteen page (typed...single spaced) document listing my goals for my thirties. Today I thought it would be appropriate to look back at the ways God led me through some of my plans and changed others!

I chose Psalm 16:11 as my theme verse for my thirties, and my goodness. Has it ever thoroughly framed these last ten years! "You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand." Pretty much every part of my life looks different at forty than it did at thirty, but in each change, God did make known to me the path of life, and I am grateful for His leading!

My theme song for my thirties (hello, nerd) was I Then Shall Live, and I still love it as much today as I did ten years ago. (And we featured it in our wedding, so I would say I definitely embraced it.)

Here were my goals for my thirties, and I'll tell you how they went!

* Read "Daily Light" for the next ten years and log how Scripture speaks. I started this project and then abandoned it to follow other studies of Scripture. Now I'm torn between being fine with that decision and wondering what I would have learned if I'd stuck with it! (Daily Light is a daily devotional filled with only verses.)

* Examine the Scripture and practice studying various versions and original languages.  I think I've done this pretty well! I mean, I'm not fluent in original languages, but I did a lot of studying in the last ten years.

* Pursue faith-filled, intercessory prayer. I did that! Always room to grow, of course, but I'm grateful for all the prayers I made time to pray.

* Memorize Scripture. I did some, but not as much as I should have. (This one doesn't come naturally to me.)

* Keep a faithfulness journal to preserve the record of what God has done in my life. Journaling has taken on even greater forms and facets for me in the last ten years. I'm not sure I fully did what this commitment set out to do, but I feel I've still accomplished it in ways I couldn't have fathomed back then!

* Write five books. How about three and a half? :)

* Develop and lead three small group curriculum studies. How about kind of? I wrote one and a half, but never led either. (A group did use one, though.) I also did other kinds of curriculum and study writing that I did use and never imagined doing.

* Develop mentoring relationships in life skills. Done! Maybe not as specifically and intentionally as my goal stated, but it happened in natural ways.

* Write an encouragement letter every week, leaving a legacy to those who left one to me. Fail. Sad, sad fail. I did write many, but not one a week.

* Create home groups. Ten years ago, I was leading a home group of friends through a little study/program I created, and I wanted to make more of those groups. That didn't happen (hello, life) but I have become a small group leader alongside Ryan, so I'm not calling this a total fail. I'm just calling it a change.

* Continue routine maintenance of the house where I live. Ten years ago I was single and not great at house stuff. This one got a lot easier to keep after I married a handyman!

* Continue working diligently in cooking, decorations, and cleaning. Ryan is still (by far) a better housekeeper than I am, but I feel I did well in this one overall! I'm a way better cook at forty than I was at thirty! And way healthier!

* Create a safe environment for friends, family, and myself. Mostly a win! My goal was to make a haven of a home where people felt safe and loved. Why is it that finding out you failed on this one specific time sticks out in your mind more than all the times you succeeded? But overall, I think people find our home a safe and loving place.

* Open my doors for entertainment, study, and teaching. Done! I did it before I was married, and we still do it today. We want our home to be the kind of place people want to come to for anything.

* Create boundaries and rules for myself and my family. Done! I want our home to be fun and safe, but it's still God's home before it's ours, and we want to put a hedge of protection around it!

* Spend quality time (on the phone or in person) investing in one friend every week. There were certainly weeks I did NOT do this, and in the last ten years, my phone usage took a nosedive (hello texting and social media), but overall, I would say I still try to do this!

* Pray daily for my husband. I didn't know who he was when I made this list, but I sure am glad I spent so much time praying for him, and now it's a privilege to pray WITH him as well!

* Look for ways to meet specific needs in friends' lives. I feel like I have done this well. Sometimes the hardest part is getting them to LET ME meet that need. We are all such a stubborn bunch, and I raise my hand the highest in that department!

* Develop a core group (of twelve people) to carry me through this decade. While I have way more than  twelve friends, I do feel like I have found a consistent dozen (or so) that I know I can count on for prayer and advice, and I love that!

* Learn how to handle conflict in a healthy way. Ugh. I still hate it. I feel like I do better with it than I did ten years ago, but it's still not my first (or hundredth) choice.

* See the ocean. DONE! (And on a birthday, no less.) I've seen it more than once in these last ten years, but that first time is precious to me.

* Take four vacations to places I've never been. Done! And even more than that! This was originally a commitment to making my own fun even when I was single. And I feel like I did that well! Being married just makes it easier!

* Create my own top-fifty "must read" list to pass on. Well, I started it. It's not done yet. But that just gives more time for great books to be written, right?

* Scrapbook my kid pictures. I got through my senior year, my birth, and my first five years! Then current life took over and I never finished it.

* Create a portfolio of must have recipes and stories to pass on. Well, the portfolio lives on my blog, but I think I've done it! (And continue to do it.)


So there you have it! A checkup from the past ten years. Even though I didn't fulfill every commitment explicitly, I fulfilled so many more dreams that I didn't even dare to write down back then. And as I prepare to enter my forties, I am doing so in a new city, new home, with a new last name, and a new job. (OH! And new hair color. But that isn't a surprise to anyone.)

I am so grateful for this beautiful decade, and all my forty years. God has been faithful and good on my best and worst days, and I am excited to see what He has ahead for me!

And just for funsies, here's a little video I made of my original birth day and the thirty-nine birthdays that have followed. (I made this a couple of weeks ago and Ryan ended up using the photos at my surprise party. I had no idea I was working for my own party!)