Decade birthdays are great and weird and a little scary. These are dates that you approach with excitement and a little trepidation and a dash of dread.

I remember when I was about about to turn 30. I felt so old. It sounded so strange. My sister sent me flowers at work. Someone had sent me flowers at work?! I started to celebrate. Thirty was pretty great.

Fast forward ten years.

Forty. That’s a different story. I definitely approached that birthday with some fear and trepidation. Thirty now sounded so young. Forty feels old for sure. I remember my mom being forty. She seemed old.

Enter fifth graders. The year that I turned forty, my fifth grade class made it bearable. No, they made it fun. Downright fun. They gave me a party. They brought me cake. Lots of cake. They bought me black balloons. The whole works. They made me cards. On one of the cards was written, “You’re not over the hill, you’re over the mountain!” In big black letters. Capital letters. It made me laugh. It was fun. It was a celebration. I went home happy. Forty and happy. Forty was great.

Fast forward another ten years.

Fifty. Ahhh, now there’s another story. I approached fifty with some definite weird and apprehensive feelings. I stopped highlighting my hair. You know, I didn’t want to be that person who was 100 years old and still blonde. Not time to fight it anymore. It was time to embrace the gray or the white or whatever color it turned on its own.

I spent time in reflection about how I wanted to “be” at fifty. I did some serious pondering. I actually feared this one a bit. I feared it, but it turned out to be GREAT and the most freeing of all of the decade birthdays!

The result of all that pondering? Two things: gratitude and contentment. As the “big day” approached, I felt the strongest sense of thankfulness. An overwhelming sense of thankfulness. I was thankful to be alive. I was thankful for God’s mercy. I was just downright thankful. And, it felt good.

Why had I been worried about a birthday? About getting older? I decided instead to have gratitude and to be content. It was a deliberate choice. I felt free and happy. Happy and free. Free to praise God and remember the good. Free to embrace the getting “older” and free to enjoy His goodness.

Gratitude and contentment.

Also, turning 50 was crazy fun because I was turning 50 along with my super-awesome fifth grade teaching partner. Lots of anticipation and big splash for this birthday. Our students threw us a rockin’ 50s skate party complete with poodle skirts and pigtails. We had a blast! Fifty was the best yet!

But, this past year? The year I turned 51? Well, it felt different. I still had a party and cake and fun and all of that. But, I just felt, well, older.

This is when it really happened. You know: the defining moment. I had to make a mental, firm, active, resolute decision. I had to embrace aging. I was not going to succumb to feelings of being “old” even when it was harder to get up after sitting on the floor. Even if I felt (and heard!) the joints creaking and crackling as I stood up. Snap! Crackle! Pop! And even if I needed to drink more coffee to keep up with everything.

It was a decision. To love life, to be thankful, to enjoy it, to praise God, AND to resolve it over and over again. And again. Each day if necessary.

So as my back is a little achy while I am leaning over my computer typing this, I am thankful. And, I am thankful for each birthday, not just the big splash decade ones. I am thankful for each day. For each and every day.

Live life and don’t miss it. Life is a gift. Be content and thankful. Press on!

My classroom door has the words “Be Bold” painted on it. Why? My new classroom this year was the old Yearbook classroom and that was the theme of the yearbook a few years back.

So why did I keep the words painted on the door? At first I thought it was because it looked better than a mere plain brown door. Plus, I was across from the Art room which had an artsy vibe to it and I wanted to keep in step. But secondly, and truly, I realized that it was because I knew that deep down I needed the daily reminder as I entered my classroom each morning to be bold. Be bold to:

Share Christ with my students.

Stand up for truth.

Proclaim the Gospel.

Pray for others.

Seek Christ first.

Go forward.

Progress in projects.

Work. And not rest on my laurels. As a kid, I wondered what were laurels anyway? I thought that was a nice name for your backside. But later I realized it was your old accomplishments and successes. In other words, don’t rest on any old achievement or plaque of success gathering cobwebs on the back corner of a shelf. Keep working and refining and growing.

Do bold things. Get out of your comfort zone and off your comfy couch. If not now, when?

I am by nature shy and introverted. I am a slow processor. During group discussions and conversations, the topic jumps three steps farther down the road before I can think of a response. I joke with my co-teacher that I have meetings with myself before I have meetings with her because I don’t process things as quickly as she does. Seriously though I can have some witty comebacks, IF you give me about 5-27 hours to respond. I still laugh at one that I was never quick enough to share. Banter is not my forte.

In the past, I often used my quiet personality as an excuse not to be bold. I have a quiet voice. No one will hear me if I speak up. Let someone else do it. All flimsy excuses. I once read a book that called being shy or quiet at the wrong time a sin. Wow, sin? Really? It made me mad when I read that, but it was right. Yes, if you aren’t doing something that you know you should be doing, it is sin. Just start doing it. Do it now.

Hence the reminder to be bold. It feels heavy to stand up for truth. It feels hard to stay on the path. It feels difficult to speak out against something.

Jesus says, “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:30 ESV)

There’s a story from The Book of Virtues entitled “The Man, the Boy, and the Donkey.” I always joke with my class about the hilariously-boring, non-creative title. Yet, it’s one of my favorite short stories to read to my students. And, it’s a good reminder to me.

It’s unsurprisingly a story about: a man, a boy, and a donkey. The three encounter various groups of people who criticize them for how they are traveling. At first, the man and boy are ridiculed for walking alongside the donkey. Then the man is called lazy for making the boy walk while he rides the donkey. Next the boy is called lazy for riding the donkey while the man walks. Finally, they are both called cruel when they ride on the donkey together.

After each encounter, the man and boy try to reconfigure themselves to try to “please” all of the people they meet. They find it is utterly impossible to make everyone happy with them. By the end, the man and boy are both walking while carrying the donkey whose legs are tied to a pole. You will need to read the story for yourself to find out the ending, but you can probably guess that it doesn’t go well.

This story resonates strongly with me. I struggle with being a people pleaser. I don’t want to rock the boat. Why? Because I hate conflict. I don’t want to rock the boat because it’s uncomfortable and wet and splashy and messy and complicated and, again, uncomfortable. But, if the boat ain’t rocking, the boat ain’t moving. You’ve got to keep going forward. Sometimes you’re going to get a little wet. You have to do what you’re called to do.

The takeaway from the virtue story? No matter what you do, people will think whatever they want. Don’t live to be a man pleaser, follow God. Be considerate of people, definitely, but do the things God has called you to do.

Remember that “haters gonna hate.” Not everyone is always going to agree with you. And, that is okay.

As I write these words, I get a slight twinge about “worrying about people” or “rocking the boat.”

BUT, as my words and thoughts tumble out, I am happy to have a place where they can land.

I’m happy to share them with you. Feel free to read them and follow a long … or not.