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?