In my alphabet pursuit, I am up to the letter "F". My hubby turns 40 next week and I am chasing him quickly. I will hit this milestone in February. Here are some observations as I begin to reflect on my life.
Family
Family is usually stressful and crazy. But, family in whatever form is family. Family is the foundation of your identity, your place in the world, and your physical characteristics. Sometimes, our foundation is not stable. Luckily, God can come in and repair the foundation and help us to build a more stable edifice in which to house our lives. The family in which I grew up was/is crazy and weird and not always edifying but I have taken the love, the insanity, and the values and used them along with my husband's to build our little family. We can't wait to see what our kids say about us once they grow up. The American dream is to make our children's lives better than our own. I want our children to have more love, more stability, less crazy, and more surety in who they are than I had(and I had quite a bit of all of that). We may shelter them and keep from them some of the most crazy stuff, but that is so that they won't have the burden of growing up knowing what it is like to be unwanted and unloved.
Friends
When I was little, my mom said that I never met a stranger. I would come home from a week at the beach with a new friend. I never had trouble making friends. As I got older, the process got harder and as I am approaching mid-life, it is darn near impossible to make and maintain friendships. With kids and jobs and marriage, adults have very little extra energy to cultivate friendships. If you move around, then you can often feel isolated. Differences in lifestyles and jobs can cause a rift in friendships or place stress on relationships. I am blessed to have some wonderful women in my life who are dear friends. I know that I can call on them anytime that I need to do so! What are you doing to cultivate friendships in your life?
Flaws at 40
I chose flaws because we should always look to improve ourselves. But, aside from being neurotic and pushy and bossy and over sensitive, I like who I am now better than I did when I was 20. At 20, I had no idea who I was nor did I like myself. At 30, I was maturing and learning to love myself and love others. At 40, I am much more fit and fun than I have ever been. I can run farther and I eat healthier! Granted, I am in a little more pain and I can't eat as much as I used to and my bladder is well, we as women all know ;). Let's face it, I look at cake or pizza and gain weight. I am smarter and have more common sense than I ever have! I am enjoying life and can't wait to see what my 5th decade brings!
Hop over to Proverbs 31 Mama for her blog hop!
