Seasoned and Poised is the New 40

40 is not the new 20 in my opinion.  I have nothing in common with a 20 year old, other than having been 20.  Indeed, I have been there and done that and I accrued more than t'shirts.  I have in fact, been redeemed and rescued by the Lamb of God, become a wife, mother of 3 and servant of the Most High God.  It has been and by God's grace, continues to be a wonderful journey.  I look back over my life thus far, and it has not always been a picnic, but I would not trade those times for anything.  I have seen the hand of God move mightily in my life and in and through the lives of others.  I am living proof that God can change the lives and hearts of anyone who dares seek Him, who simply believes that He is the God that does not change and that He gave His only child for us ALL.  I today, am a confident woman, not in my own strength and abilities, but because God has strengthened me over time via adversity, trials and triumphs.  The decades prior to this one were training exercises for this very moment.  I feel like the graduate that stands at the end of the stage, diploma in hand, poised and ready to take on the world that lies ahead!! I am a new woman in Christ Jesus, and I am  elated to embrace this new season, decade of my life as the Lord would lead me to.  If I had any advice for my almost 20 year old self, I would encourage her to be who God created her to be, because everyone else was already taken.  I would encourage my almost 30 year old self, to be thankful in all things and not covet the woman next doors life, it is full of its on challenges and complexities.  So, here I stand on the cusp of turning 40, Seasoned and Poised.......

Philippians 3: 12-14 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do:  Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.