DevotionReader
What I Know Now
By Kerry Lee Beckford
(with comments about 40 being the starting line of wrinkles, bad feet, and arthritis), then I needed to make sure that my thirties were one, long self-absorbed fiesta.
But that’s not how I lived my thirties. Instead I decided that those dire images of being forty could not and would not be like that for me.
2. Forgiveness begins at home. How wonderful it is to forgive others. How about turning that attention inward? I’ve made horrible mistakes, bad choices, and dumb decisions in my life. Things have gone wrong, spiraled out of control, or were recklessly uprooted. But I’m human and still here (certainly by God’s grace and mercy). I’ve forgiven myself of ALL past mistakes. But as life goes, I’ll make new mistakes, so the process of forgiveness continues.
3. Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize. Who leaves the house without moisturizer? I’ve learned all I need to about the known pollutants in the air and that’s plenty of reason to moisturize my face. The same holds true for my soul. I know that life has outrageous valleys filled with dark and dreary thoughts….but I don’t intend to live in that environment. At the off chance that I’ll be near a dangerous setting, I get all the protection I can muster. I can’t take the chance of messing up my soul, my first gift to me. Constant moisturizing—on the inside and outside—exalts the blessing that is my life.
4. No is a complete sentence. If “yes” is a complete sentence, then surely “no” qualifies as a complete sentence. Such a simple sound yet a complex word. I’ve learned that saying “no” to others really means that I’ve said “yes” to myself. It took me so long to learn to say that mighty little word. I was so afraid that saying “no” would brand me as a selfish heifer. But now I’m hooked on the word and the feeling. Those two letters have helped me to have more honest relationships, and honesty is VERY big for me. Plus, I sleep better than ever, which is as divine a gift as any.
I may add to this list, but I also want to keep this initial list short. Who knows, maybe by forty-five I’ll add more to this list. Maybe it will be just the same, which doesn’t make me sad at all. After all, THIS is a good life.
By Kerry Lee Beckford
| The idea of turning forty used to terrify me. As recently as ten years ago, women I knew who were forty or nearly forty looked so much older. They were smart and accomplished in their careers, so I believed what they said. But they held worry in the lines of their faces, lack of confidence in their eyes, and disappointment on their backs. If forty looked like that and sounded like |
 Kerry L. Beckford |
But that’s not how I lived my thirties. Instead I decided that those dire images of being forty could not and would not be like that for me.
Yet being forty is not just about looks—it’s about knowledge. And now that I am forty, tthere are things about my world that I know now that I did not know at 30. What I knew then pales in comparison to what I know today. But it was not a decade marked by ignorance. I’d say that my thirties were generally about increasing my awareness of my identity, my worth, my talents. Yet it was not until the past couple of years that I felt a bone-deep contentment, a certainty about what I’ve learned, and what shapes my life.
So here is what I know now:
1. God is. That’s all. Nothing more. Having seen miracles and knowing that my life is part miracle and all blessing, I know that God is.2. Forgiveness begins at home. How wonderful it is to forgive others. How about turning that attention inward? I’ve made horrible mistakes, bad choices, and dumb decisions in my life. Things have gone wrong, spiraled out of control, or were recklessly uprooted. But I’m human and still here (certainly by God’s grace and mercy). I’ve forgiven myself of ALL past mistakes. But as life goes, I’ll make new mistakes, so the process of forgiveness continues.
3. Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize. Who leaves the house without moisturizer? I’ve learned all I need to about the known pollutants in the air and that’s plenty of reason to moisturize my face. The same holds true for my soul. I know that life has outrageous valleys filled with dark and dreary thoughts….but I don’t intend to live in that environment. At the off chance that I’ll be near a dangerous setting, I get all the protection I can muster. I can’t take the chance of messing up my soul, my first gift to me. Constant moisturizing—on the inside and outside—exalts the blessing that is my life.
4. No is a complete sentence. If “yes” is a complete sentence, then surely “no” qualifies as a complete sentence. Such a simple sound yet a complex word. I’ve learned that saying “no” to others really means that I’ve said “yes” to myself. It took me so long to learn to say that mighty little word. I was so afraid that saying “no” would brand me as a selfish heifer. But now I’m hooked on the word and the feeling. Those two letters have helped me to have more honest relationships, and honesty is VERY big for me. Plus, I sleep better than ever, which is as divine a gift as any.
I may add to this list, but I also want to keep this initial list short. Who knows, maybe by forty-five I’ll add more to this list. Maybe it will be just the same, which doesn’t make me sad at all. After all, THIS is a good life.