thirty-nine
Today I am thirty-nine years old. That feels like an awfully long time to be alive on this earth, but I still feel like a little girl in so many ways that it must not be that long at all. Or maybe I will always feel like a little girl even when I am kickin’ 100. I fully plan to live to be 100, you know.
I love my birthday. I love the cards and presents and hugs and joy and newness of a new year. I love celebrating and wish I was at the park right now with five gazillion of my friends.
Instead I am having a quiet day at home. Jess and Amy came over and brought me birthday lunch – Gator Bites and Moosetracks, my favorites! Now I am taking care of Sadie and washing dishes and mopping the floor. My children are all gone. Blythe is applying make-up on the actors for tonight’s debut of Two Gentlemen of Verona put on by iFamily’s iShakespeare Live acting troupe. Keziah is on her way home from the other side of the state where she has been visiting cousins the past few days. Fisher and Annes are at the lake (sans water) with friends playing in the dirt and looking for critters.
I am at the stage of my life where daily sacrifice is necessary for my home to run well. Sometimes it feels good, sometimes it is so normal I don’t even notice I am sacrificing – I have been doing it for so long it has become part of who I am, and sometimes it bothers me. My new goal for this year is to sacrifice for my family more often and more joyfully. I want to not begrudge them their joys. They have been taking care of me for what seems like forever and it is time I take care of them more completely and with more happiness while I do so.
My birthday gift to myself (I fully believe in giving myself a birthday present!) is to do 39 things to make a difference in the world. One of those 39 things will be to donate to Jessica’s birthday gift to herself – a project to provide clean drinking water. Another one will be a big act of service for my sweetie and each of our children. That leaves 33 acts of kindness for me to do for the greater world. I am not going to be my crazy self and try to get them all done today. I am giving myself the whole month of May to do these 39 things.
Want to join me? I would love to hear about your 39 things.
I'm Tracy, a mama with big dreams, crazy ideas, loads of laughter, an insatiable desire to learn, and enormous piles of laundry.
what a great idea! I am going to be happy serving where I am at. Smile more. Use uplifting words more. Do laundry with a song on my lips. Vacuum and dance at the same time. Hug and kiss more. Listen more attentively. I am so grateful for what my family does for me as well!!
Sheri, love these thoughts and they have already blessed me. Smile more. That is what I am trying to do. I have already smiled more at my children more than I would have just because of your words.