So by the time  you are reading this I will have crossed over into a new decade. Yep, I'm leaving the thirty-something crowd behind and standing atop that great big hill everyone always talks about. You know, the one where people throw parties and decorate with black and silver, grim reapers, walkers with big giant bicycle horns?



Friends, in just a few hours I am going to be Forty.

I don't "feel" forty and I'm really not sure what it's supposed to feel like. Honestly, when I look in the mirror, I still see the little girl sitting at her grandmother's kitchen table swinging her legs back and forth (while getting scolded for having "ants in your pants"). I still see the young lady that thought her future would be full of glamour and fun.

Lean in, can I tell you something?
Honestly, the people that say "oh, darling age is just a number!" Are right. It's truly all about how young you feel.  My best friend stepped into the new decade called 40 a few months ago. I asked her "so, how does it feel?" Expecting to hear her tell me how she felt like a butterfly who'd just burst out of their cocoon or tell me that every ailment that you develop as you age hit her all at once.  Do you know what she said?
"Aw girl, I don't feel any different. In my mind, I'm still a thirteen year old girl!"

After we had that conversation, I felt like any concern I had about turning 40 pretty much disappeared.  I've grown a lot in the past 40 years. I've walked through sunshine and trudged through life's storms. Some things haven't been fair but, those things have taught me so much.

Looking back to the bible, look at all of the wild things that happened in a time span of "40".  Noah took his family and a bunch of animals for the ride of their lives on a huge ark. Forty days and Forty nights they sloshed around as the flood waters raised. Finally, after it all dried up, God sent a rainbow and a dove with an olive branch to confirm he kept his promise.


So here I sit wondering what to expect.  I want to make the most of this decade. I want to continue to run this race with my eyes on the prize. I want to be vibrant and youthful body, mind, and spirit.  I want to be the big sister to my younger friends. Show them that it's not so bad up here at the top of this hill.


Leaving you with some quotes that inspire me as I enter this decade called Forty.

“Aging is not 'lost youth' but a new stage of opportunity and strength.” 
― Betty Friedan

“In my dreams, I never have an age.” 
― Madeleine L'Engle

“The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole,but true beauty in a Woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring that she lovingly gives, the passion that she knows.” 
― Audrey Hepburn


“It is not true that people stop pursuing dreams because they grow old, they grow old because they stop pursuing dreams.” 
― Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez


Linking up with #RaRaLinkUp & Coffee For Your Heart


5 Comments

  1. Hey there! Catching up with you from #RaRalinkup with Kellie Balarie. My birthday was on the 15th and I'm tempted to let this be my last birthday to officially celebrate because I just turned 49!! This decade has been the best ever for me. No joke! Age is just a number that tells us where we are on the journey. If my soul could be numbered, I'd still be a young child! Bless you.

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  2. Happy 40th, Krista. May you have many more years filled with blessings of love, joy, and peace in Jesus! I love how you talk about life's storms and unfairness teaching you so much. It's so true how we learn more through those times that the sunshine days.

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  3. Happy birthday, you have left me behind. I will catch up in nine years.

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  4. Happy birthday, you have left me behind. I will catch up in nine years.

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  5. Happy birthday, you have left me behind. I will catch up in nine years.

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