You know you're 50 when...

...it no longer bothers you to be told you look good for your age.

I was telling John and Marian last night that when I was 40ish, I didn't know why people had to tack on those last three words. I didn't like it. And I wished people could simply say, "You look good" minus the reference to age. But now I'm just thankful someone is still paying me a compliment on my appearance. : )

We ran into a friend at a convenience store yesterday and we were talking about the trip. I told him the trip was to celebrate my fiftieth birthday and he said, "Really? You're 50? You look good for your age!" And then he immediately said, "For any age." LOL. I knew some aging woman in his life had probably pointed out to him that those last three words detracted from the compliment. But I realized in that moment that I no longer care about those words being included! I have reached the age where I no longer consider those words to detract from the compliment. How funny is that?

I AM getting older. I see it. I feel it. I know it because I have grandchildren! And when I was the age of my son, I thought middle age was 35! I now think 35-year-olds are still babies. And I realize that that thought in itself makes me old! (Okay, not OLD, but oldER.)

I'm just happy to be here. I'm grateful I still have my health. I'm thankful that my life is where it is at this age. I have so much to be thankful for. I'm thankful for family and friends. I'm thankful for my church family. I'm thankful for my kids and my grandkids. I'm thankful to have the most amazing husband on the planet!!! (He has MY vote, anyway!) And I'm most thankful of all that, because of Jesus, I may get older but the "me" inside this body will never die. I will go to be with HIM when life as I know it here ends. I am so thankful to finally KNOW that I have eternal life. I already have it through faith in Christ! (If you haven't read my blog previously, you may not understand what I just said but you will if you read my book when it's published.)

Speaking of my book, it's finished. I actually printed a complete manuscript this weekend (after endlessly editing and revising). I put it in a three ring binder and hand-delivered it to the person who is going to write the foreward. Next step is a professional edit to get it ready for print. After that, I will get legal advice. And then I will start designing the cover. I have no idea how many people will actually be interested in reading my book, but I feel such a tremendous sense of accomplishment just having recorded my whole testimony. This is something I am so glad I have done, no matter what comes of it (or what doesn't). When there is an actual book in print, I will probably create an independent website for it. I wish I could have it in print tomorrow. I'm so eager to share it with friends. But it feels great just to have a complete manuscript. I only began writing in mid-January. I wrote the entire book in less than four months. But I did approach it like a full time job. I put in many 40-hour weeks. And just before we left for Barbados, I actually put in one fifteen-hour day doing final revisions!

I'll keep you updated on my progress. But there will definitely be a book in print and I hope it will be before the end of the year. My working title, by the way, is "Breaking the Chains."

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