She Can Laugh at the Days to Come

Published on myspace on Wed., July 11, 2007

Well, there are only about 20 minutes left of my 32nd birthday. It has been a great day! First, I should say I went to bed with the kitchen really messy and woke up with it sparkling clean. No, the fairies that I always wish for didn't come. Alex knew that act of service would give my day a happy start! Thank you, babe! The kidddos started waking up one by one. We decided to have birthday donuts w/ coffee, of course. And afterward, the 2 big kids walked down our street to a cute little shoppe that sells balloons and picked out the perfect one. It says, "Much love on your birthday!" For our kids no b-day would be a real birthday without balloons. Which brings me to the real thing I wanted to say in this blog.
Somewhere in my early 20s I started worrying about getting old or aging. If you know me I tend to think too much about everything so this probably didn't come as a shocker. But, anyway, 3 years ago it was the night before my "dreaded" 29th birthday and we were in our local grocery store doing normal shopping. The kids saw balloons and said, "Mom, it's your birthday! We've gotta have balloons for your birthday." My first reaction was, "why waste the money?" My next reaction was, "how embarrassing." Then, I came to my senses. I remembered when I was a little girl that I used to count down to my next birthday. It was so exciting to have a special day. And, I couldn't think why that had changed. Why, didn't I like accomplishing another year. If I weren't having another birthday that would mean I were dead. Where did the excitement of another year of life go? I decided the kids were right. We bought those balloons. And, as we walked through the store the kiddos started announcing to everyone we saw, "we bought balloons b/c it's mom's b-day!" The balloons were in my hand as a declaration but I still had to fight down the twinges of wondering, "what do people think of this grown woman with balloons?"
Proverbs 31:25 is talking about a noble woman. It says, "she is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come." God has good plans for me, and you! When you have your birthday rejoice that God has allowed you to live another year. And, remember that he is not finished with you. A verse in Psalms says, "David accomplished his task in his generation and then he died." So, as long as we are living God has plans for us and he wants us to be hopeful in Him!
It is not as if I am perfect in this area yet. However, this is a life long goal and I must admit I have enjoyed my 30s so far more than my 20s, weird huh? We are not meant to be young and immature forever. God has plans for us and we all need sages in our lives. If you see me slip into worry and doubt over my future please help bring me back to these thoughts. I want to laugh at the days to come b/c of the hope I have in Jesus. And, I hope we will celebrate the wise folks in our society, the ones who have been around the block several times. We need them. Our culture does not give them the honor they are due! May the Lord lead us on.