26 Ways To Enjoy Your 30's

Welcome to the 30's club! Or if you aren't here yet, congrats on getting a head start for that part of your life!
It can be fascinating (or surprising) to experience the 30's. Your health might change, but you'll hopefully feel settled and focused in your vision, personal and work life. When you need extra inspiration 

Explore

  • What types of skill(s) do you need for a job or position you want? Make it a reality!
  • We all know about how great worldwide travel is/would be, but have you explored all of your city/state/local area?
  • Get outside regularly
  • Cultivate a listening ear and the ability to ask good questions
  • In a world where the online space is very common, invite people into your home on a regular basis, do real life with real people
  • Mentor and be mentored

Hobbies

  • Pick up a hobby you enjoyed as a kid or teen
  • Learn something (or a few somethings) new and enjoy the messy process of learning.
  • Teach a hobby, take someone "under your wing" and watch them thrive!

Health

  • Study how the body works. Once you have a basic understanding of how the different parts work together, it's easier to make healthy choices.
  • Research vitamins: they aren't all made the same and don't all work the same for every person. We also don't get everything we need from food anymore, so supplements are helpful.
  • Make your own food & snacks: splurging is fun, but making your own is usually healthier, can be fun, and is generally budget-friendly
  • Hydrate: I like to add flavored hemp to water. Yum :)
  • Sleep: neat tip: the body processes thoughts, toxins, etc while you sleep. It's a really necessary "vitamin" in and of itself!
  • Exercise for your body type AND to support where your health is right now.
  • Have healthcare professionals that listen to you (chiropractors and functional medicine docs are a great place to start!)

Finances

  • Start a 'retirement' fund, even if you don't plan to retire!
  • Get a financial coach (mine costs $40 a year! I'm happy to share more info!)
  • Give regularly. Sometimes the smallest amounts make the biggest difference! It's a blessing to invest in someone's music lessons for 6 months, or a food delivery service, etc.

Ministry

(for my fellow believers)
  • Keep growing spiritually (your relationship with the Lord is the most important one you'll ever have)
  • Serve your church
  • Send encouraging cards letting people know where you see the Lord working in their lives

Income

I'd love to hear what has helped you in your "journey through the 30's", feel free to leave a comment or send me a note! (I'll write back!)

God is Good All The Time

"Can we just end this year and get a do-over?"
“I’m so ready for this year to be over and start a new one!"

It's easy to start agreeing with statements like these, especially when looking over the events of the year and remembering the hard times, or experiencing hard times right now. It’s really easy to get swept into the sparkling freshness of 365 days of "no mistakes yet” (as Anne Shirley would say), and shrug off the previous year like you would peel a potato.

If we look back, however, was last year really any different from any other year? Has any year been overflowing only with delightful things for 365 days? Or 52 weeks spent in complete darkness with no light whatsoever?
Maybe some of you will answer yes to one or both suggestions, but I’ll hazard a guess that for the most part, happiness & sorrow have come and gone much like the up-and-down motion of the ocean waves. We probably forget that shadows are as necessary as light is to the formation of our souls as those who follow Christ.

A TAPESTRY
Might I encourage you to remember that the great Weaver is making something beautiful with all the colors and shades of the rainbow?
My life is but a weaving
Between my God and me.
I cannot choose the colors
He weaveth steadily.

Oft’ times He weaveth sorrow;
And I in foolish pride
Forget He sees the upper
And I the underside.

Not ’til the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly
Will God unroll the canvas
And reveal the reason why.

The dark threads are as needful
In the weaver’s skillful hand
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned

He knows, He loves, He cares;
Nothing this truth can dim.
He gives the very best to those
Who leave the choice to Him.”
-Corrie ten Boom

Truly though…why do we think any previous year was so hard and that next year will be so much better? I get it, we look forward to fresh starts and would rather not dwell on mistakes or hardships, but might we be more careful with how we think of these things? We aren’t given a guarantee of a better year, only plenty of grace to follow in the steps of the Master…Jesus, who suffered the full wrath of God on our behalf. These events and happenings that shake us to the core are what He uses to make us humble, ironclad saints who trust Him fully for the praise of His glorious grace!

A BETTER YEAR
Perhaps we should stop in the middle of that expectant thought of a ‘better year' and instead ponder all those hard days and give thanks again to the Lord for showing us His power in working out all the situations, bringing healing after pain, and sustaining with His strength through all the waiting.
Instead of wishing the year to be over, let’s look back and delight in His abundance of love and grace and in His glory through our weakness. Let’s anticipate seeing more of Him in the upcoming days, weeks, and months. Let’s expect to see more hardships, more joy, more pain, more provision.

This isn’t permission to get as miserable as possible, but simply to take each moment as it is given, trusting that we will, as Richard of Chichester said:
"Day by day, dear Lord,
three things I pray:
to see Thee more clearly,
to love Thee more dearly,
to follow Thee more nearly."

May that be our prayer for this year, this week, today, and every span of time to follow. May we be eager servants, ready to serve in any capacity regardless of size or importance, excited to see the hand of the Lord in every part of our lives.

...all the time, God is good.