The Blessing of Turning Forty and Decades Journaling Project

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.

Expanded Bible (EXB)

The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.

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.

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.

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.