Intentionally Thirty
Reflection on turning thirty
I turned thirty last month and having time to rest and reflect, one thing I know I am is thankful - thankful that God allowed me to see the start of this new decade. I have high expectations of God regarding this new decade; I’m excited to be a part of the journey God has for me.
I’ve mentioned to people before that I haven’t felt a day over nineteen, that was eleven years ago, I’m young at heart and younger in appearance and maybe for this reason the countdown to my thirtieth birthday was real. The countdown started on my twenty-ninth birthday and for the whole year, I had been looking forward to finally turning thirty, with hopes that maybe I’ll feel and look my age (whatever this means). It has taken me a while to be “ok” with not looking or feeling my age and often being mistaken for a teenager, I’d hear “it’s a good thing because when you’re forty, you’ll look young!” LOL well, I’m not forty yet.
One other reason for my excitement, as I once told a friend of mine, was that turning thirty will be the first decade of my life where I’m not starting it in mandatory formal education. For me, thirty is the beginning of the decade where I feel that the lessons learnt in the first twenty-nine years of my life will be put to good use and I firmly believe a lot of puzzle pieces will begin to fit.
A few weeks into my thirtieth year, having experienced the realities of death, an abundance of new life, new and old friendships and family, I know that God is on a megaphone telling me to live on purpose - to be intentional with every aspect of my life.
What does living intentionally mean for me?
The past six months have been very eye-opening for me in ways that have caused me to look at life differently and has motivated me to live life on purpose. These three things come to mind when I think about how I want to live intentionally:
KNOWING WHO I AM (and who I’m not)
Being aware of who God says I am is important, believing His truth about me is necessary. We live in an era where the world is working overtime on dictating what it thinks we need, who we should know and dislike, who is woke-approved, how much money, trips, houses, boos and babies we should have ALL by thirty. The era we’re in seems to be in a rush.
Knowing who I am means I that I choose not to be rushed, instead I will believe and hold firmly on to God. For me, it means that I will spend time with like-minded, encouraging and honest people who speak God’s truth to me, with me and for me. It means doing things that will benefit and enhance who I know am. Knowing who I am will serve as a reminder to stay focused on my goals and vision.
DECISION MAKING
For anyone who’d care to listen I’ve had the chance to share an epiphany I had recently. My epiphany: I’m a product of my parents’ decisions, and their decisions are a product of their parents and so on, all decisions I played no part in making but have impacted my whole life. I suddenly became very aware that my decisions will also affect the lives of generations after me - those I’ll meet and those I’ll never even know or may never know me.
Intentional decision making isn’t the act of succumbing to a rigid lifestyle, if anything intentional decision making creates more room to enjoy life to the fullest and somewhat spontaneously too. It makes room for change and for keeping things the same; it makes room for saying yes to opportunities and turning some down, having a vision for the future and making sure all my steps lead me there. It’s about being present in the now, thanking God for the lessons learnt from the past and trusting God for a good future.
BEING A PERSON OF MY WORD
This concept ties in with decision making and impacts how I spend my time. Living an intentional life requires me to be much more careful with my words - what I say, what I leave unsaid, what I agree to and what I claim I can do.
I want to honour my word first to God, then to myself and lastly to others and doing so means assessing my words before they’re said. I’m learning to ask myself if I can back up my word - is there anything that will hinder me from honouring my word? So for example, if I’ve said yes to meeting someone at a set time I need to make sure I leave home on time as my way of keeping my word.
Jesus said let your yes be yes and your no be no; my words must be timely and honesty because the disappointment that comes from not being a person of my word is not worth it.
“Just say a simple, ‘Yes, I will,’ or ‘No, I won’t.’ Anything beyond this is from the evil one.”
Matthew 5:37 New Living Translation
To be better at keeping my word, I’m reducing my to-do list, being realistic with my workload, deadlines, capabilities and so on. My words and actions will go before me and will leave a trail behind me, and it’s my desire that wherever my words go, they will always testify of who God is in my life and the person God has created me to be.
Christ is the perfect example of living intentionally as it’s believed that He started His active ministry at thirty years old and died three years later. With each day/moment Christ was intentional with everything and everyone (including His sleep - Mark chapter 4:35-41).
It’s only by God’s grace and mercy that I’ll be able to live an intentional life that pleases Him.