Now that I think about it...

If I had known at almost twenty or almost thirty how many things I would see differently at almost forty, I question whether I would have found it worthwhile to have any opinions or thoughts at all at the time. Come to think of it, in ten years I’ll be almost fifty, and ten years after that I’ll be almost sixty, and I wonder whether I’ll look back then at almost forty and ask the same question.

At any rate, and in honor of my upcoming milestone, I’ve decided to put some thoughts down for posterity. At the moment, these all seem like bits of wisdom—things I know now that I wish I had known then. But who knows if in ten or twenty years, these pearls will be embarrassing reminders of how much I still didn’t know?

Well, risk not, live not. Here I go. Things I’ve come to realize, whether or not they’re true:

1. A husband who is treated as though he is a man worthy of respect and admiration stands a decent chance of becoming a man worthy of respect and admiration.

2. Raising children is the most meaningful work with which a mother can occupy herself.

3. God’s way is always the best way. There are no exceptions. There never were. There never will be. Not even when we think there are.

4. Struggles we label as our “crosses to bear” are often the result of not having lived by #3.

5. No husband can live up to the romantic standard of the fictional characters in books and movies who were edited into their concocted perfection.

6. No fictional character in books or movies can live up to the romantic standard of the God who paints the sky with stars and sunrises and serenades us with breezes and birdsong.

7. Home education is easier to defend biblically than any other form. This is true even if it offends people.

8. Confident, intelligent children get filthy and break things, often on purpose and in the name of research.

9. Motherhood is a profession with its own dress code, skill set and professional development opportunities. And contrary to popular belief, the pay is fantastic.

10. For the Christian mother, losing a child through miscarriage is as sweet as it is bitter. What greater joy can a woman know than to imagine her child in the presence of God Himself who created each one and is the Source of love and protection, and of His Son who held the children in His lap and may be doing so now for all we know?

11. Carpets cannot be cleaned.

12. This list will change.