My Next 20 Years

Dear Me,

Well, if the last 40 years flew by quicker and quicker then I can only imagine that by the time you're reading this, it will feel like you had only just written it a short time ago.

So here are my four hopes;

I hope that I will have taken the initiative to DO things when the urge strikes because before I know it, it is too late and the final results would have already been achieved.  Have we sat and sulked or gotten off of our butts and finished something?  If not, it needs to happen because there is no tomorrow anymore.  There is only today.

I hope that I will have taken time to spend with my husband.  It is amazing to think that it has been 13 years that we have been married and over 20 since we met but by the time you are reading this, it will be 4 decades.  That is a long time to keep a promise to God and without taking the time for each other it will be very difficult.  Every time I make time for him I am thankful for what a wonderful husband I have been blessed with.  It is only in the hustle and bustle of life that we lose patience with each other.

I hope that I will have taken time to spend with my kids.  As time flies by faster and faster the kids grow more and more independent. Lily is currently in her 3rd year of ballet and loves Taylor Swift and painting her toenails and sleepovers.  Trevor has just discovered Star Wars and is the biggest kid in his class.  They both have so much potential.  By the time I am reading this, Lily will be almost 30 and Trevor will be close behind.  I don't dare to pray for things that they will have achieved or accomplished by then because God's plans are so much greater than mine.  They are both the most amazing blessings and I hope that I can share as much as possible with them while they will let me.

I hope that I will have sustained my relationship with God.  It's not a church thing, although that helps.  It's a communication thing.  It's hearing his voice in my heart and relying on him throughout the day.  Things happen in life to people that cause them to lose their faith or fall away from God and I earnestly hope that I can keep the perspective of God's plan for me as the years progress.

Right now I have enough clients with tax returns to file to work when I want to and clean when I can.  We try to travel if we can because we know it gets harder as we get older.  Will we have taken the time to go places or have gotten too caught up in our lives to plan for time away?

Grandma Pearl turns 100 in about 45 days.  I am looking forward to seeing her at her party and spending time with Mom and Dad and Eddie and Erika before we make the long RV trip back from Oregon with the kids.  Dave is in his second year of insurance sales and the first year went well so we have pretty high hopes for this year as well.  The house is almost complete in it's remodel and now there will be room for the kids to have their own rooms.  At this point however, they enjoy sharing a room so it's a shame to split them up.  Scott and Julie are moving in across the street and Trevor and Grady couldn't be happier about being able to play with someone in their neighborhood.

At almost 40 it seems selfish to ask for anything more than 40 years I already have of blessings.  People say that God gives folks only what they can handle so it concerns me that either I can't handle much or God has something big in store for me.  I think I prefer the former.  Well, by the time this letter is read I suppose I will know that answer.  I hope you still remember how much God loves you whether the blessings continue or you get sacrificed to the volcano in a grass skirt.  Life is a wild ride and His plan for us is for us to prosper.

Love,
Your former self