The Blessing of Turning Forty and Decade Journaling Project
Journal August 02, 2014, Saturday, 801 and 833 p.m.
I just realized how in little over a month, I am going to turn the big four-oh. Forty years old. That's four decades.
I should state now. I'm weird. Now, let me continue.
When growing up, I was the youngest in my class. This brought some interesting challenges, let me tell you. And thanks to good genetics, I look much younger than I really am. Therefore, I have always been aware of my age.
Never mind how I have dealt with some tough stuff in my life. Really tough. It's made me grateful for every day I am alive. I know God has a purpose for every day of my life. I try not to overlook this. It is too important.
Because of everything I've said, I refuse to take one day for granted. Hence, I am honored to be alive and am blessed. Hence, when I realized I am about to turn forty, I became excited, for I am honored and blessed. Truly. Deeply. Thoroughly.
Journal August 02, 2014, 900 p.m.
I am excited for the month of September. It's guaranteed to be a special month for me, I cannot deny. September is usually one of my favorite months because it is when my favorite season of the year begins. This September brings another couple of celebrations as well. It's my Mom's birthday. Also, it is the dating anniversary of my husband and I. This year is the lucky thirteen. This is special in and of itself. We've been through so much together. It is a celebration indeed.
This September marks something very memorable for me.
Quite memorable.
I turn four decades old.
A smile fills my face. My heart flutters.
I am truly, deeply, thoroughly blessed. There is only one reason why I am alive. God has me here for a reason and a purpose. Otherwise, He would have me home. It is my responsibility, therefore, to do my best to live for Him each and every day.
God has allowed me to live for forty years, for He has a purpose for me. What an honor. Turning forty marks the beginning of another decade, I hope and at least, to fulfill more of His purpose in my life for this next decade and more.
The fact that I realized just a few minutes ago how I'm turning forty next month made my joyful. It also made me reflective.
I have been a journalkeeper for over three decades now.
This realization caught my attention and made me think. Have I captured enough of my life on the page? Really? Truly, no. I have not.
It's even more true as I realize how I have lost about twenty years of my journaling because of how movers lost my journals three years ago. Which still gets to me and hurts, by the way. Every one of my journals had my full name and an address on them. The fact is they were identifiable. No one has tried to reach me.
So, I do not have as much journaling as I could have or should have.
This makes me rethink a great deal of things.
2014-08-03 13:08:53-- Aug. 03, Sunday
The truth of the matter is I could journal a great deal more about my life than I have. A lot more. Tons more. (Sigh.) So, what now?
Last week, I started two different fiction series I want to write. I really want to write them. The question is, Am I supposed to? Furthermore, am I to write them now?
How am I really, truly living out Matthew 6:19-21 in my life?
Matthew 6:19-21 Expanded Bible (EXB).
19 “Don’t store treasures for yourselves here on earth where moths and rust will destroy them and thieves can break in and steal them. 20 But store ·your [for yourselves] treasures in heaven where they cannot be destroyed by moths or rust and where thieves cannot break in and steal them. 21 Your heart will be where your treasure is.
How can I best live out those verses?
Also, I know it is my responsibility to remember what God has done in my life and give Him thanks for all of it. Have I? Moreover, have I done this lately?
Nehemiah 9:17 Expanded Bible (EXB)
17 They refused to ·listen [obey];
they ·forgot [L did not remember/recall] the ·miracles [wonders] you ·did[performed] ·for [among] them.
So they became ·stubborn [rebellious; L stiff-necked],
·choosing [appointing] a leader to take them back to slavery in Egypt.
But you are a forgiving God.
You are ·kind [gracious] and ·full of mercy [compassionate].
You ·do not become angry quickly [T are slow to anger], and ·you have great[abounding in unfailing/steadfast] love [compare Ex. 34:6; Num. 14:18; Ps. 86:15,145:8; Joel 2:13]
So you did not ·leave [abandon; desert; forsake] them.
they ·forgot [L did not remember/recall] the ·miracles [wonders] you ·did[performed] ·for [among] them.
So they became ·stubborn [rebellious; L stiff-necked],
·choosing [appointing] a leader to take them back to slavery in Egypt.
But you are a forgiving God.
You are ·kind [gracious] and ·full of mercy [compassionate].
You ·do not become angry quickly [T are slow to anger], and ·you have great[abounding in unfailing/steadfast] love [compare Ex. 34:6; Num. 14:18; Ps. 86:15,145:8; Joel 2:13]
So you did not ·leave [abandon; desert; forsake] them.
Expanded Bible (EXB).
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
What am I doing today to remember what God has done in my life personally? And what am I doing to remember what God has done in the lives of those in my life, past and present? And, what am I doing today to remember what God did in the Bible and is doing now that lines up with the Bible?
Does my writing either fiction series right now do all of this?
What am I doing to remember to...
1 Thessalonians 5:17-18 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
17 Pray constantly.
18 Give thanks in everything,
for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
18 Give thanks in everything,
for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.
Huh. These are all good questions.
I think the answer is, I am to journal and capture my life on the page so I can remember all these things. God has allowed me to live four decades already and is allowing me to start another. I want to bring Him glory in all I do and in all I am for another four decades or more.
The Decades Journaling Project
2014-08-03 13:47:41 = When this idea came to me.
What about a journaling book about turning 40 (Four Decades)?
THE BLESSING OF TURNING FORTY:
THE DECADES JOURNALING PROJECT AND MEMOIR
This will be my blog post series, and journaling project, as I make the journey of turning forty. (It's also my memoir.)
Furthermore, this is: A how-to book about how to find turning forty a blessing and journaling about the last decades of your life and the ones to come and turning it into a memoir if you like.
Turning Forty Years in Forty Days (08.03.2014/Sun/435p.m.)
I turn four decades old on September 13, 2014.
Here is an interesting fact about my birth-day. I was born on Friday the Thirteenth and both Mom and I almost died. Lovely birth complications. But, we ended up being okay. Thank God.
Also, my mom went to the doc that day, who did an exam and told her it would be a week or two before she had me.
So, let me get back to the main point. I turn forty in one month, ten days. I guess I could phrase this better. I turn forty years in forty days.
This, I've decided is the theme I want to write about from now until September 13, 2015. I want to see about living the best year that I can, and ever have, as I reflect on where I've been and where I'm going. I want to look at the last four decades and plan for at least the next four decades. Hence, this journaling blog post series will become: THE DECADES JOURNALING PROJECT.
THE BLESSING OF TURNING FORTY:
THE DECADES JOURNALING PROJECT AND MEMOIR
This will be my blog post series, and journaling project, as I make the journey of turning forty. (It's also my memoir.)
Furthermore, this is: A how-to book about how to find turning forty a blessing and journaling about the last decades of your life and the ones to come and turning it into a memoir if you like.
I'm rather excited to see where this journey takes me--and us.
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