Over-the-Hill is Exciting

It’s my birthday today. The big 5-0. A lot of people crack jokes about being “over-the-hill” when you hit 50. Well, maybe that is not all bad. I think of it kind of like riding a roller coaster. (By the way, I LOVE roller coasters.) The anticipation as the coaster car climbs that fist long hill is a bit exciting in and of itself. Then you crest the hill and plunge down the first slope, perhaps with hands in the air … just to prove you can do it. The cool thing is, there is not just one hill on a roller coaster. You get to the bottom of one, and there is another one to climb.

As I reflect on the last decade of my life, I am amazed at what God has done … at how far He has brought me in ten years. So what has God been doing during that climb up the hill that represents this last decade? There is so much I could share, but I’ll stick with just four.

• Freedom: For starters, God set me free from a very long battle in my mind and heart that robbed me of all joy and threatened to destroy me. That is another story. Far too long for a blog post. I will say, though, that deep inside, I am not the same person I was just over 10 years ago.
• Purpose: God moved me from one place of work where I saw the opportunities for ministry being squeezed out by busy-ness. He then moved me into a new role where pretty much everything I do is in some way related to ministry. Teaching 14 English classes a week to elementary school-aged kids was ok, but I LOVE working with the kids at the children’s home where I am now. It was difficult making the move. The old job had an element of security, but the new one is really where I fit.
• Family: It never ceases to amaze me how miraculously God brought my precious daughter into my life. After many years of longing to be a wife and mother, He finally opened the door … to the mother part of the dream. I’ll share a bit about that another time. I am learning so much about how much God loves me as I find my love for Rachel growing each day.
• Expression: During this past decade, God has revived an old love for writing that I had way back in elementary school. I’ve done bits and pieces of writing over the years, but nothing consistent. This decade has seen my first book, From Captive to Conqueror finally nearing publication in mid-October. This blog has also been born out of that revival of passion for writing. I trust that God will use this passion in the decade to come to impact others for His glory.

Now, as I launch into my 50’s, I find I am not really depressed at all about being older. Even if I AM a bit “over-the-hill” according to some standards, that doesn’t mean the next decade won’t be exciting. After all, the most exhilarating part of a roller-coaster is that downhill plunge after reaching the top. I’m looking forward to the ride.