Aging with Grace... It's My Birthday!

Hey Mommas!

Today, I'm entering a new decade... 40! While many people tend to celebrate their birthdays with gatherings or dinner, as I get older I've found myself using this time to think about all the things I haven't done. The trips I haven't taken, the money I haven't saved or invested, the activities I haven't done with my daughter, the weight I haven't lost, and the list goes on. So, I guess you can say it's a bitter, sweet time for me.

I'm sure I'm not the only momma who thinks like this from time to time.

As I get older, I'm also learning that God's grace is sufficient. One thing you will hear me mention a lot is to give yourself grace. Grace says that although as women and as moms we work so hard to do "All the things," we also understand that we are human beings and there is only so much we can accomplish in a day.

We got the kids ready and off to school on time... accomplishment!

We made it to work on time without any accidents... accomplishment!

We didn't "go off" on someone who may have deserved it... accomplishment!

We made sure the kids had dinner, homework, bath, and bed on time... accomplishment!

We completed one chapter in a book to learn a new skill... accomplishment!

We recorded one reel or video for our business... accomplishment!

We drank four 16 oz bottles of water... accomplishment!

We ate veggies and/or fruit with each meal... accomplishment!

And it's okay if these accomplishments all happened on different days! They are still accomplishments and worth being celebrated.

And while there may be plenty of things I have not yet accomplished, there are so many more things I have accomplished... raising a healthy and happy child, prioritizing my health by eating better and getting my annual checkups and exercising in even if it's doing housework, honing in on my skills in my career, putting more time into my own business ventures, creating new friendships while still fostering old ones, managing my money better than I did years prior, trusting more and more in God's Word each day, and so on.

I can literally count more good things I've done than the things I haven't done, and for that I'm grateful.

So, in this next season or decade of my life, I plan to give myself more grace and kickoff my birthday with a celebration in my mind. Because I know and pray you know that if you change your mindset, you can change your life! I am choosing to celebrate all the challenges I managed to overcome and all the achievements I managed to accomplish. It's so easy to think about what we haven't yet completed by our birthdays (i.e. certain career or income level, savings amount, marriage, children). But I ask that you join me in celebrating all that YOU ARE and all that God is calling you to be.

As women, as moms, we've come a longgggg way. And we need to celebrate that!