This month will mark my 42nd birthday and also my youngest daughter's birthday who was born 47 minutes before my birthday. Yes, that is correct my friends, she wants her day all to herself. That being said, I was reading another blog and I saw on old post about things that have been learned through the years. After reading Lance's last entry (welcome home my friend) I realized that God can fill a lot of places in your life and if you allow Him, He can fill everything in your life with Joy! Here are some of the things that I have learned over the past several years:
Age 31 - Never say that you are never getting married, especially when God has other plans for your life
Age 32 - God is truly the greatest Architect that we have ever met (have you seen New Zealand and the Mountains within?)
Age 33 - When you give God the power over you finances and commit to him (at least) 10% he will meet you where you need to be met and will guide you to where you need to go. Malachi 3:10
Age 34 - When you make Stewardship a priority in your life the rest of the themes in your life come more into focus (see Lances previous blog and read the lists)
Age 35 - If you are fortunate enough to be blessed with the gift of parenting, it is at this point that you can truly grasp just how much God loves us, as we love our children (the birth of my oldest, my son)
Age 37 - When you trust God and give Him all that He asks, things in your life and priorities in your life change drastically - they move to a Kingdom perspective. Also, when God blesses you with a little girl you quickly understand how important purity is...Colossians 3
Age 39 - Biblical Stewardship and trusting God with your finances allows you to bless others because scripture is fulfilled - God says, when it comes to tithing, to test Him and he will bless you more than you can believe (He Does, He is faithful and Almighty). The birth of my third child forces me to realize how important a father's love needs to be in little girls lives.
Age 40 - Through trials, tribulations and pain, God teaches us to lean more on His understanding and less on ours. Prayer, daily reading of Scripture and complete trust in "His will be done" changes anxiety and stress levels James 5:16
Age 41 - You can never read enough Scripture because there is always something new to learn and to be revealed through daily study. I like what Pastor Adrian Rogers once used to say, "When you read, you read other books, BUT when you read the Bible, it reads you"
I am also learning that you can never learn to trust Him more nor can you expect to reach a level in your daily walk that doesn't continue to require more from you. Love your brother as yourself and first and foremost love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind. On these two commands hang all the others. The older I get, the more that I learn to ask God for the Wisdom. Less of me and more of Him.
Dante