In November of this year, I turn 50 years old or is it young? My boys started talking about how old I would be when they turned 50…they decided I would be OLD! It’s true. The Farmer and I didn’t marry until I was 28 and had our Engineer at 30, so I am older than most moms of boys my kids’ ages. Our youngest is now 11. So when he is 50, I will be nearly 90! I told The Farmer that I had better stay in shape and keep myself healthy if I was going to get to spend time with all my grandchildren! 🙂

Last year, I was really, really sick: a health crisis. I found out that I was suffering with two auto-immune diseases and a serious Vitamin B deficiency. I am doing really well now, but I mention the health crisis because moms often do without and sacrifice their own health in order to give to their families, especially their children. We can’t forget to take care of ourselves, if we are going to be around to enjoy the future with out children. What we do matters. We mentor, encourage, and insist that our children take care of themselves but when we don’t take care of ourselves, we are teaching them not to take care of themselves. I have learned some other things in my 50 years and thought I would share them today.

1. Take care of yourself. Eat well. Take probiotics. Move your body. Drink your water. Monitor your health. Seek health advice but do your own research. Ask for a second opinion.
2. Take care of your relationships. First and foremost is our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. All else is a distance second.
3. Protect and honor your marriage. Your husband is worth your time. He will be there when the children move on to schooling and their own marriages.
4. Pour into your children. More than work or fun, they matter. While we hope to have many, many years with them, that time of pouring into them is really very short. The time they are in your home is the best time to give it your all.
5. Invest in your relationships with friends. They make life so fun! They have filled in the space when family was far away and helped when it was needed.
6. Invest in yourself. I have taken classes, read books, received training, built small businesses. We live with ourselves when all others go. 🙂 Investing in yourself is important because we need to keep growing and becoming a better version of ourselves.
7. Dress to glorify, honor, and captivate the Lord. In recent years I have been trained in color analysis and style and have really enjoyed encouraging women to enjoy dressing and to use it as a way to honor themselves and worship the Lord.
8. Lastly, laugh. Laugh with your spouse, your family, your friends. Laugh. Listen to funny comedians. Tell silly jokes. Share humorous memes. Laugh.

Love your boys. Love your man. Love yourself enough to take care of you. Here’s to 50 more years!