Where else to start, but at the beginning?  I am newly 40 (as of a couple weeks ago) and have done a lot of thinking the past few months leading up to my birthday.  Until recently, I never really understood why people would have a mid-life crisis.  And while I don’t have a need to go out and buy a new sports car or the like, I have had the thought that the first half of the most usable part of my life is now behind me, so what do I want to do with the second half that remains?  I came to the realization that God works in 40 year increments.  The Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years until they were finally ready to cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land.  The 40 years were necessary for some old ideas and habits to die off or be replaced so the then current generation could fully realize and live in the promise that God had planned for them.

My husband of 12 years (who threw me the most amazing birthday party, by the way – Babe, you’re the best!) and I have not been able to have children.  I have found myself at many points in the last 8-10 years pausing at certain moments to think about the life lesson encapsulated in whatever I am going through at that time and how I would share that with a child if we had one.  I’m sure I’ll get into that story more later, but in the months leading up to this birthday (and let me tell you, when I went to the doctor for an annual physical about a week after my birthday and saw my name and “40” written in black and white on my check-in page, I just about fell out of my chair) I thought I needed some way to pass on the lessons life has taught me so far.  And hence the blog you are now reading.

So, here is the first lesson – perfectionism is a waste of time and energy.  I am your typical first born, perfectionist, type A kind of girl.  I like things in order and have a tendency to think I should be good at anything I try right out of the gate, even if I have never attempted whatever the task is before (which looks absolutely ridiculous now that I write that out.  I think this blog will end up being as much or more for me than it is for you).  I have been trying to find the best way to start this blog; to find just the right topic with the right number of words and paragraphs, and and and….  And then I stepped back and decided just to start and whoever is supposed to read this will read this.

Welcome to the journey.  I’m not totally sure yet where it will take us, but come along for the ride and we’ll find out together.  My prayer is that something you read will resonate and be useful in your own life.  God’s blessings on you, dear reader.