Burn the ships (Reflections on Turning 40)

            I have been having a little fold laundry and worship party this morning. As  I was folding t-shirts and shorts, the For King and County song song, “Burn the Ships” played in the background. I thought about how each day I need to chose to burn the ships. Each day as a child of God, I am making a choice I can put on, 

 “ compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

I have to make the choice to put on these characteristics from Colossians 3. These traits do not occur naturally to me. My fortieth birthday is coming up next week. In the past decade, I wasted too much time being overly focused on my circumstances both my present circumstances and painful memories from my past. I have been thinking about the song lyrics of the song “Stronger” by Sara Evans. “I’m not giving you a hour or a second or another minute longer. I’m busy getting stronger.” The only way to get stronger is to find my strength in God. He is my rock and my refuge. The woman that I want to be as I am turning 40 and the one I want to be throughout my forties is thankful and joyful. I want to let the words of Christ to dwell in me richly, and I want the peace of Christ to rule in my heart. I want to wear love like my daughter wears her favorite hoodie sweatshirt. She wears it all the time. These are some of the goals that I have for this next chapter of my life. Do birthdays cause you to be reflective? If you are older than forty, what would you tell your forty year old self? would love to read your thoughts about birthdays in the comments.














Comments

  1. ~Karrilee~ from Abiding Love, Abounding GraceApril 26, 2021 at 5:04 PM

    Happy Birthday (soon!), my friend! I'm a decade ahead of you (or so! ;) ) and I have to say one of the things I LOVED about that season is how so many women sort of come into their own and decide to not let others' opinions of them dictate how they live their lives. There is a sense of Freedom that comes in that season... your priorities are clarified and (if needed) reorganized and we distance ourselves from shame or regret of the past and instead, lean in to living more on purpose! Of course --the good news is we don't HAVE to wait until we turn 40! I, myself, decided in my mid-30's not to wait! I do tend to be reflective around my birthday --especially those milestone ones! Praying you fully embrace the Here and Now and get a glimpse of the goodness He has in store for this next season!

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