Thirty, Patient and Thriving

Wow, did I really just turn 30?

I’ve had a lot of friends who struggled with turning 30. That wasn’t the case for me. See, in the last few years I’ve been through so much that I am incredibly thankful for where I am in life and all that I have.

For me, my 27th birthday was far more difficult. I remember thinking that being single at 27 meant marriage was not going to happen. Children were not going to happen. My fairytale was not going to happen. Turns out, I was all wrong.

Little did I know that just 13 days later I would start THE relationship. Less than two years later I would become a mom. AND by my 30th birthday I would be living my own personal fairytale. (And no, the term “fairytale” is not overused. It is underused. People should learn to love what they’ve got!)

To celebrate my 30th, Jacob threw me a surprise party. When I walked through the door and saw everyone there I had to walk back outside. I was overcome with emotion; with so many people to love in my life, how could I want more?

Patience

“Our willingness to wait reveals the value we place on the object we’re waiting for.”

-Charles Stanley

If there is one thing this life has taught me it’s that patience is such a beautiful thing. Patience in a time of waiting (waiting to find “the one”, waiting to become a parent, waiting to find the perfect job, waiting to buy a home, waiting to lose weight, waiting to afford something…) is HARD. But, how much more do you appreciate something when you’ve had to wait for it or earn it? For me, it’s A LOT!

When I was six years-old I decided I wanted a pickup truck. My dad had just purchased a Chevy Silverado and I’d love that from the front seat I could see everything, even beyond the cars in front of us. When I told my dad my dream to have a truck like him he said if I earned a scholarship to college he would buy me a new pickup truck. I spent the next twelve years working to earn a scholarship and when the scholarship letters started arriving my dad fulfilled his end of the deal. My patience had been tested when I saw my friends receiving their parents’ old cars and I had to borrow my brother’s. But you can bet I thought I was the coolest kid at my high school when a few months before graduation I was driving a brand new pickup truck.

So what does waiting for a pickup truck have to do with waiting for your fairytale? Well, when I became single at 24 I started working on myself. I stepped it up at work and earned two big raises in a short period. I worked on my relationship with God and my faith became unbreakable. I started trying new things and became more adventurous and more independent. I learned to become grateful.

When I met Jacob I was the person he was looking to become his wife. If I hadn’t taken the time to work harder, grow in my faith, and become more confident, I wouldn’t have been who he needed. If I hadn’t had to be patient through those years of waiting to find him, I am not certain I would have appreciated the amazing man that he is. I would have been ungrateful.

Patience is HARD but it pays off. When I walked through those doors to my surprise party I walked into the life that I had so patiently waited for. The life that I had prayed for.

So hold tight. Embrace the wait. Know that your fairytale is coming… if you can just wait a bit longer.