in just a few days i will celebrate my 35th birthday. if perhaps you just thought, "no way!" or "i thought she was like 28", i love you, you are my favorite and would welcome you to continue to believe me to be younger than i really am. if you didn't, then just keep your comments to yourself and just pretend you did. my gray hairs and rickety feeling body tell me that i am definitely not as young as i used to be. rickety body you ask? yes, rickety body. a couple of weeks ago i dislocated a rib GETTING OUT OF BED.
what's the saying? "you're only as old as you feel"? i've got some serious problems if that's the case!
anyway, i've been thinking a lot about my upcoming birthday. even though my dad would call 35 a "non-essential" birthday, it feels pretty significant to me. now, when i feel out a survey i'll be in the 35-44 category. i'm now classified as mid-30's. only 5 years until the big 4-0. i remember very clearly my awesome 80's themed roller skating 30th birthday party like it was yesterday. this feels like a big deal to me.
a couple of months ago i was talking to our pastor who i've been friends with since we were 16 and who happens to turn 35 just a few days after me. as we were questioning how it was even possible that we could be turning 35, he commented that it was "all downhill from there." i'm pretty sure he was joking, but it has really made me think about the life i have left to live. i pray that i get to live a long life, to see my kids grow up and meet my grandkids, but i know that our days are numbered according to God's plan for each of us. that being said, i want to make sure i am living each day on purpose and living out His plan for me, whatever that looks like.
each year as my birthday approaches, i sometimes think about who i was 10 years prior or even 20 years prior, so recently i've been thinking a lot about 15 year old and 25 year old shannon.
oh to be young again! i definitely would not want to revisit high school, maybe only to let 15 year old me that the time would go fast and college would make up for any unenjoyable moments! but 25 was a good time. single, unemployed, living at home, every 25 year old's dream, right? i kid! i had no qualms about my life at the time. every day was a new adventure.
but here i am staring 35 in the face wondering what the next 10 years will be like. hopefully we'll have a few more kids. (when my husband reads this, he will say, "you mean one more.") hopefully my husband will become full time at church and will only have to work one job. hopefully our food pantry will grow and be able to feed more people in our community. hopefully i will be able to homeschool those few children and be somewhat organized again. hopefully i will continue to make new friends and cherish living in community. hopefully dink dink will astound veterinarians across the globe and live another 10 years.
there are so many things i can wish for in the next 10 years, but most importantly, i pray that my life honors Jesus in all that i do. i pray that He will continue to teach me how to live freely so i can experience His best. that i will love others more, give thanks more, celebrate Him in all circumstances and cling to Him, allowing Him to be my everything.
is it all downhill from here?
no, i'd say the best is yet to come!
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