Forty. And wise. Ha!

Forty.

Ten years ago, I never turned thirty.  I really didn't want to be thirty, so instead, I went from being twenty-nine to twenty-ten.  I don't remember admitting I was thirty until I turned thirty-one.  It was a really bad attitude.

Now, I'm kind of excited to be forty.  It seems that as I get older, I should be getting wiser.  I want to be wise.  Wisdom gives great quotes.  I love quotes.

My roommate in college and I weren't visual at all.  Most people's dorm rooms had pictures on the walls.  Our room had none.  Instead, it had a huge sheet of paper covering the wall, which we decorated with quotes we'd heard.  The good and the bad, fame and shame, were all represented, from professors, classmates, and general life.  It was great.

If I'm going to be forty, I want to be wise, and I want great quotes.  I may have to collect the quotes from others, but they'll be great.  If my husband would let me get away with no decorations or paint on the walls - only an enormous paper with quotes to cover bare walls, I'd do it!  Here's some quotes I've collected in my heart this year.

"Forty is great!  I love the ages of the kids, marriage, this phase of life.  40's good!"  - Jo-Lynn.  This is the quote I kept in mind as the right attitude for the new decade.

"He must increase, and I must decrease."  - the Bible.  It's all about Jesus.

"I wonder what our grandmothers would have done?"  -Sarah.  Life sounded easier then, in loving husbands and children and serving generously.  Maybe life wasn't easier, but memories of our grandmothers are still good examples.

"All your life long you are slowly turning into a heavenly creature or a hellish creature." - C.S. Lewis.  This seems more obvious in each of us the older we all get. Please let me be becoming more heavenly!

"Great idea.  The picture is awful."  - Lisa.  Honesty of a friend.  There's nothing like it.

"Don't listen with your ears.  Listen with your heart.  You'll understand."  - Jean, explaining how I would understand our ESL students, despite the accents.  She was right.

"We love you, honey.  Take all our love."  - Grandma and Grandpa.  Can I say that quote enough that it will be the memory others have of me?

Maybe none of those quotes meant much to you.  What have you heard lately that makes a difference in your life?  What's God teaching you through what you've heard or read?  I hope you have a day of wisdom and noticing great quotes!