30Thrive

Reason #1 for writing to 30 something’s about thriving - The Stakes Are Higher. Let’s expand:

Imagine yourself in college…If you were to throw all your convictions to the wind and live a weekend selfishly and without constraint, you would probably wake up Monday felling guilty and regretful. You may have a few apologies to make and forgiveness to ask but within a week all would be close to normal. Take that same weekend and imagine it now. The consequences are exponentially greater. Your husband would be livid and deeply concerned about your behavior. Your children would respond with confusion and insecurity. Anyone you had been a Christian witness to would lose all respect for you. And who knows what effect it might have on your career and standing in the community. The more responsibility you have, the harder the fall.

My above example is extreme. But what about less obvious temptations that wiggle their way into our hearts and thinking? We must recognize them to be just as dangerous as the wild weekend. We can’t flirt with immorality or dishonesty like we’re 20 anymore. If you do, you need to take a hard look at yourself in the mirror and declare your real age and all that is riding on your shoulders. My neighbor told me the other day that sometimes her husband doesn’t like to do work around the house on his days off. Her response was, “Honey, we’re grown-ups now! That’s what we do on our days off.” Just hearing her say that empowered me to view myself like a grown up and face the hard reality of having a lot depend on me.

This is a spiritual issue too, of course. In Biblical terms, “God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.” To think you can act foolishly, and it not come back to bite you, is like mocking God. In His economy, you reap what you sow, more than you sow, and later than you sow. That goes for sowing foolishness but also sowing righteousness. It works for you both ways. Sin splatters but so does right living. You will influence those around you and now you have a lot more people around you than before. The stakes are higher. What are you splattering?

Practical Questions:

If your conscience is not clear, make it right. Before God and whomever else you’ve failed. Make it right so you can thrive! It’s not too late!

8 Reasons why I’m writing to 30something’s (other than the fact that I am one):

1. The Stakes are Higher – you now have as much as a career, spouse, and minivan full of kiddies depending on you. 10ish years ago you were in college and nothing was yet permanent.

2. Family Foundations are Laid – you feel more ownership of your life than you ever have. You are both recalling and rewriting traditions from your upbringing to shape your new family’s foundation on which you intend to build in years to come.

3. Future Leaders of Churches and Society – you’re only a few years away from being the most influential women in your churches and communities.

4. Pace of Life- We cram so much in, we leave little or no margin, yet we always feel behind or guilty. You’ll burn out before you reach 40 if you don’t change this one area!!! More to come on this for sure. It’s a huge problem for our generation!!! Especially for women.

5. Disillusionment, Discouragement, Disappointment – the 3D’s of Midlife Crisis are coming your way if they haven’t already hit. They don’t exactly wait till you’re 40.

6. 5-7 year marriage hump- many say years 5-7 of marriage are the toughest and those typically fall in your 30’s. It was definitely true for us, except we married young so we were in our late 20’s. And you know…family breakdown is the beginning of societal decline.

7. Lazier of mind- We are lazy thinkers compared to generations before us. Couple that with all the opportunities and decisions society offers now and you end up with over-scheduled, guilt ridden, exhausted people who can’t articulate the problem or the solution.

8. Less Time to Recover – if you "blew" it in your 20’s, it’s not so hard to start over now. But if you "blow" it now, your 40’s could look grim. (Since we serve a Redeeming God, a follower of Christ can't really blow it. No one’s life is irreparable. But we do reap what we sow.)

Points 1-3 are the opportunity. Points 4-7 are the barriers. Point 8 says NOW IS THE TIME! I want to walk with you through this stage of life as we learn to live thoughtfully, step intentionally, and THRIVE!

More to come on all the above topics.

Be sure to become a follower of 30Thrive so you can comment along the way. Thanks! -Codie

This blog is for Christian women in or around their 30’s who want to thrive in their roles. To thrive means to grow vigorously. I know that sounds exhausting but so does barely surviving. It seems to me that most 30somethings are in one of those categories (except those who don’t aspire for much). If you only react to your ever growing number of responsibilities and increased pace of life, your head will barely bob above water, but if you can stay just one step ahead of yourself and think through life before it pummels, you have a chance at thriving. And that is my purpose in writing. I want to help you live a well thought through life. This is my passion and my invitation…I’m looking for some Ladies to thrive with me!

Thriver is its noun form. I think it takes 3 components to become one:

1. Devotion to Christ – you can’t be your own lord anymore. From initial conversion to daily growth, our hearts must be surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. If you get this wrong, you can still “thrive” temporally, but definitely not eternally. And the temporal thriving will be an illusion anyway.

2. Aim – a focus, a direction. Lots of women genuinely love Christ, but they have no understanding of the big picture of scripture or of their life and so they float ignorantly instead of stepping intentionally.

3. Resilience – the ability to bounce back. The consequences of sin and the presence of evil are all around us because redemption is not yet complete. So if we can’t bounce back when trials hit, our potential for growth is quite limited.