50 Reflections at 50

I wrote out this list as a bit of a time capsule for myself, wishing I had done so at 40 and wondering how it will shift at 60. The perspective and wisdom gained with each decade feels like compounding interest—each period yielding more than the previous.

1. Never walk so fast that you miss the flowers.

2. Be kind, be kind, be kind.

3. Count your blessings every day because there is abundance all around and always something for which to be grateful.

4. I still don’t know what I’m going to be when I grow up.

5. Make a top 10 list for your vacation or trip, but never check off everything. Leave a reason to come back.

6. The best pillowcases are made of satin.

7. Life is a marathon through an obstacle course, not a straightaway sprint.

8. Dallas Willard is right, “There is nothing that can be done with anger that cannot be done better without it.”

9. Your worth is not defined by your productivity.

10. I will die with an uncompleted to-do list. Probably many uncompleted lists.

11. Silence, stillness, quiet time…they’re all golden.

12. I don’t need to swing at every ball or pull on every thread. Some things can (and should) be left to just float on by.

13. I’ve never regretted leaving a big tip.

14. My longest-running habit has been making Sunday a Sabbath day. No working, studying, or “making progress.” No consuming, spending, or anything else that might not let others rest too. Only creating, playing, praying, and letting my soul catch up with me before another week begins.

15. Fear annoys me. Really annoys me.

16. It is not necessary to always explain yourself or your decisions. Sometimes it’s just not a good use of energy.

17. It’s never not an ideal time for a cup of tea.

18. If I could only ever wear one T-shirt it would read, “I’m doing the best I know how to do today. Please be patient.”

19. Just because you try something doesn’t mean you have to stick with it. Trying it and moving on is perfectly okay.

20. My Neva is right, the best thing to wear into any room is a smile.

21. Make your own Ranch dressing.

22. “Work Hard, Play Hard” is a stupid motto. Maybe it works when you’re 22. Maybe it works for adrenaline junkies. Maybe it works for extroverts. But it doesn’t work for me.

23. I am not a city person. In all ways they feel suffocating.

24. The best Sunday brunch is Neva’s waffles topped with Ruby’s white pudding sprinkled with the neighbor’s home grown strawberries. Every Sunday is not too often for this indulgence.

25. The best lunch is the one prepared out of a cooler from the back of our 4Runner on the shore of a lake during a road trip.

26. The best dinner is the one enjoyed drifting down a river in Montana in Dad Clark’s boat.

27. Know thy self. Guard thy heart.

28. Burnout is real.

29. There is still only one big guy (and his family) that can safely call me “Nicky”. The rest of you better not even think about trying.

30. It’s worth watching every single one of God’s painted sunsets.

31. Getting out of debt brings much peace.

32. It is better to be a lover than a fighter.

33. I either have or will disappoint you. Repeatedly. I don’t like that fact—not one little bit—but that doesn’t make it any less true. Please grant me the benefit of the doubt when I do.

34. My ideal vacation is a day without schedules. Wide open spaces. Excursions in the mornings followed by afternoons in Adirondack chairs. To play, explore, wander, sightsee at ease and be touched by the beautiful.

35. My mother should have had more children.

36. There is nothing quite like the temptation of a bag of Doritos.

37. Life is better measured in seasons than calendar days, and whether the season is good or bad, recognize that it too shall pass.

38. You don’t actually have to finish everything you start.

39. Love hurts and I’m not convinced it’s always worth the risk.

40. It is good to say “that’s enough for today” well before the sun sets.

41. My Dad and St. Paul are right: happiness and contentment are a choice.

42. Hurry—the frantic effort in response to perceived inadequacy, fear, scarcity, and guilt—is incompatible with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.

43. The moments of sweetest joy are nearly always touched with a tinge of bitterness.

44. Climb down the ladder, not up it. The real stuff is at the bottom.

45. When I need a laugh, penguins never fail me.

46. Live life with an open hand. Hold on too tight and you’ll get rope burns.

47. My happy place is a quiet fishing hole.

48. When I’m feeling low, remembering that I am my father’s and Father’s daughter helps me lift my head.

49. My proudest accomplishment is being happily married. I am stubborn, selfish, sassy, and stupid sometimes, and yet by the sheer grace of God, My Love still loves me and I delight in him.

50. God is always, always at work. Mysteriously? Definitely. Slowly? Often frustratingly so. Miraculously? Only if we have eyes to see. Justly? In the long arc. With good intentions? Always. So let us keep on keeping on asking, seeking, and knocking. It’s a long obedience in the same direction as we pray, “Lord, come quickly.”