The Next '40'

I wrote a couple of weeks ago about the 'first 40' years of my life....a brief summary of where I'd been. I was thinking about what I might have said my first 40 would look like if you'd asked me when I was 10yrs old, 20yrs old, maybe even 30 yrs old. At any of those times I would've failed miserably at predicting what the next several years would look like.

So this morning I embark on a blog post about the next 40 years and what they will hold. Laughable? Absolutely! As if I have any idea. So.....I think I'll keep it to a pretty high level list of things that I hope to see, do and experience.

The biggest THINGS will occurs in my childrens lives. In the next 6 years Sara will potentially experience middle and high school sports and find out where this choir experiment will lead. Might she find a love for singing? Will volleyball or basketball overtake softball as her favorite sport? One thing I'm pretty sure of....she should graduate in 2017. Emily is only a couple of years behind and I don't expect her path to be TOO different. We shall see.

College? Jobs? Marriage? Kids? I pray that both of my girls will have exciting college experiences like I did (well.....without some of the excitement....). What will they major in? Who knows! What kind of career path will both embark upon? Who knows! My desire for them is to establish themselves well into their 20's before getting married but I know that one may very well marry at 21 and the other when she's 35. You just don't know! Kids? Both seem to want them and I'd love to be a grandparent, but we are in NO HURRY for that!

So what about me? Dennis? Well, I see our marriage continuing to grow stronger as the kids get older. As our relationship with God deepens so deepens our commitment to one another. I see Dennis continuing to branch out into more and more volunteer/missions work....using the talents he's been given to help others. I hope to do a variety of things at work for about the next 15 years then retire gracefully and happily at 55/56yrs old.

My parents are both in their 80's so I know that there will be some moments in the next 5-15yrs that will be trying. Until then, I plan to spend more and more time with them, travel more with them and glean all the wisdom I possibly can for the benefit of myself and the kids. Having them come to Hawaii with us this past year was wonderful - hopefully there are a few more of those vacations in the next several years.

I see retirement filled with travel and community giving. I hope that the girls end up in fantastic places where we are welcome to visit and that we do so often. I want to make more time available to visit friends and spend time with them and their families. I pray that our health holds up, that Dennis and I continue to treat our bodies well and that we're active and able to do all kinds of super cool stuff as we get older. Rafting, hiking, parachuting, hang gliding....these are the things I want to do in my 40's, 50's and 60's with my kids and my grandkids. Fun, eh?

Finally, I hope to see some really special people in my life come to know God as their personal saviour. There are people in my life that I've been praying for for 5yrs, some for close to 10 years.....if I have to pray another 40yrs then I'll do so. Yes, it's that big of a deal.

So was that vague enough? I think so. What's NOT vague is my focus on praying for the next 40 years. Praying that my kids are blessed with health, with success in school and relationships and blessed with the Spirit guiding their way. Praying that our family remain strong and focused on what's truly important. Our Father wants the best for us and I intend to keep asking for it!

What do your 'next 40' hold?

Time To Check A New Box

Last week I turned "40". Yep, the big FOUR-OH. I remember back when I thought 40 was old, that things went downhill after that, that if I hadn't done 'it', whatever 'it' was, by 40 that it probably wasn't going to happen.

Well every single one of those preconceptions are WRONG!! I'm excited about 40! I feel great, have an awesome family, am in an exciting job and am expecting the best decade of my life. Take THAT "40"!!

So I got thinking about 'the first 40 years' then 'the next 40 years'. Those of you that have known me a long time, read my testimony or simply put forth the effort to get to know me the last couple of years likely KNOW a good bit about my first 40 years. A quick recap might read:

0-12: Spoiled kid with fairly prominent, connected parents
13-18: Undisciplined teenager, successful academically and athletically
19-22: Chemical Engineering degree, great job, moved away from home
22-25: Dependancy on all the wrong things - very hazy time
26-27: Met and married Dennis
27-34: Two children, crazy work, three moves, no work/life balance
34-37: Trying to figure out who I was and who I wanted to be
38-40: Finally allowed God full reign and started living/loving life

No way does that recap do the first 40 justice.....but it's a good outline. I am however WAY more interested in the what the NEXT 40 will bring. I'll write about that later.

Monday Morning by carolynspencer at Garmin Connect - Details

Monday Morning by carolynspencer at Garmin Connect - Details: "Share"

Got to try out my new toy this morning. I read about this new Garmin watch in an issue of WIRED (super cool magazine - check it out if you've never seen it!). The Garmin 110 Forerunner is a GPS/USB storage unit cleverly disguised as a watch. I strapped on the heart monitor and hit the 'start' button, and 2.65 mi later had completely my first official 'fitness run'. My plans right now are to train for the Azalea 5K Run in Mobile, AL next Spring. I'll certainly run some other 5K races prior, but I want to be READY to do well in Mobile. So...check out what the watch does - it's a total motivator!