Your Life at Thirty...

Turning thirty... I'm not sure why, but so many people dislike that number when it starts approaching. Ten is exciting (double digits!), twenty is great because I guess you kind of feel like you are an adult (?), and then thirty, well, makes some people start feeling old. Which is ridiculous when you think about how many great years are ahead of you- much more than half your life (God willing)- and all of the great things still to come. Maybe it's because thirty is that first age when we really start evaluating our place in life, our career, our family, and match is up against where we thought we'd be when we "grew up." Many bloggers out there even have "Thirty before thirty" lists, which are basically bucket lists of things to accomplish before the big birthday rolls around. For me, it was an age when I finally started feeling like I knew exactly who I was, but also realized that I still had so much growing to do and had not yet become the person that I know God wants me to be. I may be older than thirty, but I still have new goals, new dreams, and new skills that I want to learn and the difference is that now I have the courage to go after them; the fear of failure doesn't cripple me like it used to. I'm loving this decade so far.

 

This morning I asked my husband if this is what he thought his life would look like at thirty. He stopped and thought about it for a moment and then said, "I don't know what I thought my life would look like. This is probably better though than what I would have thought of." I think I have to agree with him... and if thirty really is the first age when we start comparing our accomplishments to our dreams, I think he's doing quite well for himself! At thirty my husband has...

Graduated high school and college

Jumped out of an airplane several times
Broken many bones
Played college football
Traveled all over South America
Learned to surf
Held many jobs- a radio personality, a mine worker, a waiter, a youth minister just to name a few
Gone on many mission trips
Rescued a dog and brought her back to health
Run two full marathons
Completed half of an IronMan (which should have been a full... and redemption is on the horizon)
Planted a church campus
Married a pretty fantastic woman (if I do say so myself!)
Bought a dream house (that we now could probably do without!)
Had two precious and adorable babies
Delivered one of those babies!
Discipled many young church planters through ARC
Has led hundreds to Christ and baptized another couple hundred
Followed his dream and successfully launched TurningPoint Church, which grows bigger by the day

...and I know there is stuff I left off!

In this past year alone I think he's probably accomplished more than some people do in a lifetime and I could not be more proud to call him my husband. Plus, he just keeps getting hotter with age, which is an added bonus for me! If this is what one man can do in thirty years, I can't wait to see what he'll add to the list in the next thirty. Thankfully I get to be by his side and share in that adventure!

Happy 30th birthday, Josh! May all of your (new) dreams come true this year!

 

All my love,

me.