42 Life Lessons (Opinions? Thoughts?) on my 42nd Birthday

In no particular order, below are 42 thoughts on life on my 42nd birthday.

1. Life is composed of seasons.
2. Seasons of life don’t last long.
3. Enjoy the season you’re in.
4. Pastoring is hard.
5. Pastoring is incredibly rewarding.
6. Pastoring can take your soul hostage.
7. Every single individual is hurting.
8. Every single indiviidual has issues.
9. Mental illlness is real.
10. Mental illness is impossible to recover from.
11. Jesus makes impossible things possible.
12. Parenting is far more difficult than I imagined.
13. I learn more about my own heart through parenting.
14. My childhood wasn’t perfect.
15. My childhood was as close to perfect as one could have.
16. Adoption is not sexy.
17. Adoption is not for everyone.
18. You’re not the only one going through adoption pain.
19. God intended children to be with their birth parents.
20. Chiropractors are amazing.
21. Metabolism begins declining at 30.
22. Metabolism is gone by 40.
23. I assumed (wrongly) that acne would be gone by now.
24. I hate to travel.
25. Church mergers require patience.
26. Church mergers are incredibly difficult.
27. Church mergers are a beautiful picture of the Gospel.
28. Preaching the Bible brings me life.
29. The Bible really is a living book.
30. A Proverb a day keeps stupidity at bay.
31. Writing is something I love and want to do more in the next season.
32. Children really do grow up too fast.
33. God is not out to “get me.”
34. God “gets me.”
35. The difference between the last two is a game-changer.
36. I love naps. Long naps.
37. I married way out of my league. Like middle school B-team (me) with a MLB all-star (Katie).
38. I love helping people lean into what God is doing in their lives.
39. God has called me to communicate the God of the Bible to people who think they know who He is.
40. Dogs are therapy for my wife.
41. Smoking meat on the Big Green Egg is therapy for me.
42. A cup of coffee and early mornings are sacred.