The Countdown Begins

I have exactly on week left of my thirties; one week during which I can honestly be referred to as a young woman. I will be turning 40 one week from today.

I was raised in a time when 40 year old women wore comfortable shoes and had sensible haircuts. I was raised thinking bitterness and unhappiness were inevitable. I spent my teens assuming my Joie de Vie had an expiration date. I am so happy to be wrong about that.

Two factors have worked together to make my life a fairytale. When I was 16, I gave my life to the Lord. I became a born-again Christian. My relationship with God has not been a smoothly ascending path through fragrant flowers. In fact, sometimes it is a battlefield. But it has been consistent. Though I have rejected Christ's lordship over my life, His love and grace have never abandoned me. I will work for the next 23 years to be as consistent a follower as He has been, a Lord.

The other factor that has made my life better than my best childhood fantasies is my husband. I met Steve in a bar in 1991, eight months after the birth of my beautiful son, Alex. Steve was everything I thought I could never have, handsome, educated, and kind. For reasons I will never understand, he is crazy about me. He makes me want to be the woman he sees when he lookes at me. His love makes up for all the pain in my life. His love has made me who the mother, sister and friend that I am today. He is, without a doubt, God's greatest earthly gift to me. Every day I try to deserve the love of this man.

So here I am, almost forty. I am about forty pounds over weight. My face is starting to droop, my lines are starting to deepen, and it takes a little longer these days to look fresh and pretty. I am the mother of two teenagers, one "tween" and on little kid. I am so busy I forget to eat, or sometimes even pee.

I feel exactly like a princess. I think I won the life lottery. I am the happiest girl in the world.

If this is what my first forty years brought me, I can't wait to see what the next forty might bring.