I'm Finally Forty!

This is the long anticipated day!  The thirties are gone forever!  I could barely sleep last night as I tried to relish the last little bits of being 30.  I am not afraid of growing older, it's just when you start breaking your life into decades, life seems to be so much shorter.  As I lay in bed, flashes of memories and milestones from my life danced through my mind.  All of these things making me who I am today.  God preserved me through many hard times.  Things that could have harmed me were reflected off my life and actually made me a better and stronger person.  I sensed such overwhelming gratefulness of God's goodness and faithfulness to me.  His Word has been an anchor and a comfort for me so many times.  I grabbed my Bible and held it close to me all night long.  His Word has kept me this 39 years and as I slept and awakened to 40, it was assuring to have His Word already cradled in my chest, ready to take on another year.

Dear Lord,

Remind me how brief my time on earth will be.  Remind me that my life is fleeing away.  My life is no longer than the width of my hand.  An entire lifetime is just a moment to you.  Human existence is but a breath. I've waited patiently for you to help me and you've heard my every cry.  You've lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire.  You've set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along.  You have given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to You. 

Father, You have done many miracles for me.  Your plans for me are too numerous to list.  If I tried to recite all of your wonderful deeds, I would never come to the end of them.  I realize now that doing something for you and bringing something to you - that's not what you're after. Being religious, acting pious— that's not what you're asking for.  You've opened my ears  so I can listen. 

When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child.  But I finally feel like I am growing up and I am ready to put away childish things.  I only see things imperfectly as in a poor mirror, but one day I will see everything with perfect clarity.  What I do know is there are three things that will endure - faith, hope, and love - and the greatest of these is love.  Lord, that is my heart's cry.  Let me genuinely love like You love.  

Lord I commit myself to You today anew and afresh.  Thank you for the gift of life.

I love you.

Keeley