You’re 40 years old! Do you still look like a teenager? Do people still inform you that you look young as if you didn’t know? Enjoy your youthful look since you are now hiking up the infamous hill that is spoken of so often.
I only wish I could envision where you are at this point in life? You married a crazy man with many possibilities. Wherever you are I just hope that you have not settled for the “American Dream” and/or complacency. Wherever you are and whatever it is you’re doing in life, I hope that you are doing it all for the glory of Jesus and making His name known with your life.
Right now I guess you could say that you and Zach are in the “honeymoon stage”. You won’t let him leave the house without giving him a smooch and letting him know that you love him. You miss each other when you’re apart, and you love to greet one another. You love to snuggle with him, and y’all make time to study the Word together and pray together. You have a date night once a week. Do you still do all of these things?
Do you still dance crazily around the kitchen with him when you’re cooking? Do you still laugh at all of his cheesy jokes? Do you still serve him joyfully? Does that heifer still ruffle the decorative towels? Continue to giggle it off. Take time to stop and simply enjoy him. Reflect on all of the reasons you love him, and make sure that he knows that you’re still head over heels. Go watch your proposal video. Go watch the wedding video. Go reflect on the way God wrote this very unique love story. You married an absolutely amazing man. He treats you with respect, and he leads you lovingly and Biblically. He is a wonderful husband, and he is going to be an amazing father. Go tell that silly man that you love him to pieces!
Speaking of children, how many do you have? If it’s up to Zach, we probably have ten. If we have girls, Zach is WRAPPED around their little fingers spends lot of great daddy-daughter time with them. Right now your heart is adoption. Have you adopted yet?!? I sure hope you have and that you are teaching them of the adoption we have through Christ. If you have not adopted you need to get to praying with Zach like right now!
I imagine being a mother is challenging at times. Practice patience. Drop your schedule, and make sure that you spend quality time with them. Listen to them. I’m sure that your little ones are not necessarily little anymore, but it is still so very important to spend quality time with them. I hope that their childhood memories include a clean house and a responsible , but make the memories they remember most those times when you dropped the schedule to love on them. Teach them to love Jesus. Pray over them every single day. Make sure that they know you make mistakes and that you know they will too. Tell them of your forgiveness, but more importantly tell them of Christ’s forgiveness. Let them hear how Mommy and Daddy fell in love, and let them see that love continue on years later. Be their example of a loving, Christ-centered relationship.
Rumor has it that teachers can become a little burned out over the years.You’re in your first year of teaching right now, and you can see how that rumor would be true. Remember why you went into teaching. Love on those children like crazy, especially the difficult ones. They’re the ones that need it the most. Your real purpose as a teacher is not to make sure they can pass a test. It’s to make a difference in their life. This is REALLY easy to forget in the midst of it all. Continue to write down all of the funny things that they say. Those children are so stinkin funny. Dwell on the positive and the sweet moments. Teaching is not the profession for a perfectionist. And stop taking so much home!
YOU have the most wonderful friends in the entire world! I bet you’re all scattered around the world, but you better get to Skyping. Surround yourself with the same type of people that encourage you to grow in your relationship with Jesus and those that bear burdens with you. Right now, as a 22 year-old woman, you call the best people on the planet your friends. They’ve have had many mascara stained shoulders. They have been the cause of the majority of your lifetime’s laughter, and they have been the encouragers for a lot of your spiritual growth. Make sure that those guys and gals know how precious they are to you!
Jessica, love life. Love your awesome husband and precious children, including those that walk into your classroom every day. Tell your friends how much you love them. Make a difference where you are. Be intentional about showing the love of Jesus to others.
{Stole this idea from Nicole Vinson , who stole it from another blogger. You steal it, too! I want to know what you’d say to your 40 (or older) year old self.}
Shaped by Grace,
Jessica Hardy
