Sixty Things I've Learned in Sixty Years — At my birthday party with my husband Mike, grandchildren Eli and Audrey Jane!

I just turned sixty. I can’t even believe I said that out loud! I mean, come on, sixty??? How on earth did that happen??

Honestly, in the months preceding my birthday, I tried to avoid even thinking about it. But my husband, God love him, would occasionally remind me with a little glint in his eye that at fifty-nine I was actually in my sixtieth year. Cute. Not. He’s sixty-two so he can get away with it 🙂

I don’t know why it bothered me so much. Turning forty was a big milestone and I think because the realization hit home that I was nothing resembling a young person anymore. Turning fifty wasn’t so bad. I just slid right into that decade and didn’t think too much about it. But sixty. Whoa.

I’ve definitely entered ‘senior’ territory and other than the discount at the movies and TJ Maxx, I flatly refuse to be a ‘senior’. There’s nothing wrong with it and I’m probably just vain but I don’t accept that my life and health is heading downhill. I will fight aging with everything in me! I believe I can be healthy for a long time (God willing) and I will continue to exercise every day, eat as healthily as humanly possible and hang around younger people whenever I get the chance.

I’m determined to chase after and keep up with my grandchildren as long as I’m able! I will never retire. What’s with that anyway? I may be in Act three of my four act play but don’t put me out to pasture quite yet!

When you reach my age you do have one thing a younger person lacks. Perspective. You’ve lived long enough and been through enough life challenges to have a better grasp of how life works. You’ve been through lots of seasons with God and you’ve learned none of them lasts forever. I think you also come to fully grasp what’s truly important in this life. People. Family. Friendships. Authenticity.

The last few months I’ve been reflecting back on the past and thinking about the lessons I’ve learned and really, truly know, in different areas of life. I’ve come up with sixty. A lot have to do with God because He’s my everything and that’s just how I roll. Some of the sixty have links to blog posts I’ve written that develop that particular concept a bit more, FYI.

I started writing these down in May and now I offer them to you. In no particular order except for numbers one and sixty which if you take to heart, you’ll be fine. I hope you gain something from my perspective 🙂

Sixty Things I’ve Learned in Sixty Years:

No matter what it looks like, God is good. Always.
God will only ever raise you up to the degree you’re willing to go low.
A good haircut is worth every penny.
If you can be offended, you will be offended.
I am least encumbered when I lay down my agenda and let Jesus pick.
Fresh sea or mountain air will revive your spirits like nothing else.
As playwright Edward Albee would say, sometimes you have to go a long distance out of the way in order to come back a short distance correctly.
You don’t really know a person until money or position enters your relationship.
It’s easy to miss the joy of His presence when we’re carrying the weight of the world on our shoulders. His yoke is easy, His burden light.
Make your bed. It really does make the whole day go smoother.
Buy a good set of knives and a sharpener and learn to use them. They’re the foundation of your kitchen.
God is not as interested in my happiness but my highest good.
One of the best ways to build up your faith is to have something impossible to believe for.
God will offend my mind to reveal my heart.
Learn to make fresh bread from scratch with yeast. It’s deeply satisfying and a good exercise in patience.
At times God will give you more than you can handle because, honestly, you’re not supposed to handle it alone.
Don’t gossip. Do. Not.
Each of us has our own unique sphere of influence. I may not reach yours and you may not reach mine but it’s okay. Be faithful in the sphere you’re given and let God give the increase if it’s in His will.
Buy a good study bible and a bunch of highlighters. Don’t be afraid to mark it up and write in it. Read it daily, it gives life.
When you delight yourself in the Lord, He really does give you the desires of your heart. Here’s what happens, the closer you get to His heart, the more His desires become yours. Psalm 37:4
Exercise is crucial at every age. Get up and get moving and you will feel better, I promise!
Times will come when God allows in His wisdom what He could prevent with His power. Those are some of the absolute hardest times but they have a purpose. Always.
Aim to eat a healthy, real food diet 80-90% of the time. Healthy doesn’t mean boring! Check out my recipe index if you don’t believe me!
Speaking of food, don’t make it an idol. We can over-indulge or be terrified of every bite. Avoid the extremes! Food is a pleasure meant to be enjoyed but it’s not a panacea and it can’t solve your problems.
The culture and media are not your BFF. Hold up what the world says is okay to the light of the word of God. It will guide you into all truth because the word of God is black and white mama. There are no shades of grey.
Put down your phone and close your iPad. Engage with the people around you. Be wary of becoming so engrossed in social media and texting that you miss the ones right in front of you.
In that light, make meal times ‘cell-free zones’.
Know for certain it’s Christ you want and not just what He can give you. If He never gave you one more thing in this life would He be enough?
Find a mentor who’s walked your path and listen. Mentor someone else. You absolutely do have something a younger person needs to know.
Make friends with people in different age groups, of different cultures and races. You’ll find that life and mothering are just variations on a common theme whatever culture you come from or whatever color your skin.
Sometimes God will remove the very thing you’re holding on to in order to get you to move.
Know your position in Christ. You’re seated with Christ in heavenly places which means whatever He is above, you are above. And that includes everything. Having the right perspective will utterly change your perception.
Surround yourself with people smarter than you. Know you have so much more to learn. In fact, it’s good to feel a little intimidated and it will make you stretch yourself and climb out of your comfort zone.
Embrace what’s unique and quirky about you and embrace it in others.
Read some classic books, old books with words you don’t know. Read poetry. Listen to classical music. It will connect you to something bigger and older and more profound than this shallow, self-involved culture we live in.
Every single moment of your life is part of your inheritance. Whatever you’ve gone through, whatever you’ve done, each moment of pain or hardship or suffering, all of it is your inheritance. You can fight it and resist it or you can thank God for it because it all has a purpose much bigger than you can see. Do not let your past steal your future. Embrace your scars, they just might bring freedom to someone else.
Self-pity is a pit. Fight hard against it with everything you’ve got. A grateful heart is the only antidote to self-pity I’ve ever found.
Freedom in Christ isn’t an excuse to do whatever we want. It’s our opportunity to serve. Paul said, “You are not your own”. We are free from the world in order to be bondslaves to Jesus Christ. We are free enough to deny Him or die for Him.
When you go get a pedicure, get to know the woman who’s washing your feet. And tip her well.
If you want your children to follow hard after God let them see you following. What you model they will follow. Children can spot hypocrisy from a mile away.
Be the same person on Monday you want your church friends to think you are on Sunday.
Words make or break lives. Choose your words carefully. The spoken word is the creative word and will bring one of two things to the hearer: life or death. Choose life. Remember God spoke the universe into existence with two words: “God said.”
Be careful how you speak of yourself as well. Every negative word you say about yourself is creating a negative future. Speak God’s word over your life and your children’s lives because His word is truth.
Speak well of your spouse no matter what.
Remind your children often they are world-changers because they are. You are too.
God is all about seasons. They’ll come and go and some will be more enjoyable than others but all have their purpose. How would we ever fully enjoy spring if we never had to go through winter? Find the beauty in the season you’re in.
Sometimes God’s most profound mercy comes wrapped in His biggest test.
You will never know what’s in you until you get stepped on and see what comes gushing out.
To know and not to do means not really to know.
Thoughts are things and you’ll become what you think about most of the time. Take care what you let in your heart. “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” Proverbs 23:7
Live the giving life. Be generous with your time, your money, your hospitality. You can’t take anything with you because you don’t actually own any of it. The more you give away the richer you’ll be.
Fear is a lying spirit. It will always try to get you to do the opposite of what God’s telling you to do.
To believe the impossible we must see the invisible. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1
Thankfully God calls us according to our destiny and not our history.
Sometimes God will take us out before He brings us in.
Just because a blessing falls in your lap doesn’t necessarily mean it’s yours to keep.
The beatitudes are more than pretty words. They’re the hardest, most stringent words Jesus ever spoke.
Good is the enemy of the best. Remember Eve ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
God was in your past, He’s in your present and keep this in mind, He’s in your future getting things ready and lining things up.
Love God. With all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Because how you love is the exact measure of how you’ll live.

There’s more but it’s already a pretty long list. I hope to continue to add to this list over the years. God willing, I’ll get the chance!

Sixty Things I’ve Learned in Sixty Years:

No matter what it looks like, God is good. Always.

God will only ever raise you up to the degree you’re willing to go low.

A good haircut is worth every penny.

If you can be offended, you will be offended.

I am least encumbered when I lay down my agenda and let Jesus pick.

Fresh sea or mountain air will revive your spirits like nothing else.

As playwright Edward Albee would say, sometimes you have to go a long distance out of the way in order to come back a short distance correctly.

You don’t really know a person until money or position enters your relationship.

It’s easy to miss the joy of His presence when we’re carrying the weight of the world on our shoulders. His yoke is easy, His burden light.

Make your bed. It really does make the whole day go smoother.

Buy a good set of knives and a sharpener and learn to use them. They’re the foundation of your kitchen.

God is not as interested in my happiness but my highest good.

One of the best ways to build up your faith is to have something impossible to believe for.

God will offend my mind to reveal my heart.

Learn to make fresh bread from scratch with yeast. It’s deeply satisfying and a good exercise in patience.

At times God will give you more than you can handle because, honestly, you’re not supposed to handle it alone.

Don’t gossip. Do. Not.

Each of us has our own unique sphere of influence. I may not reach yours and you may not reach mine but it’s okay. Be faithful in the sphere you’re given and let God give the increase if it’s in His will.

Buy a good study bible and a bunch of highlighters. Don’t be afraid to mark it up and write in it. Read it daily, it gives life.

When you delight yourself in the Lord, He really does give you the desires of your heart. Here’s what happens, the closer you get to His heart, the more His desires become yours. Psalm 37:4

Exercise is crucial at every age. Get up and get moving and you will feel better, I promise!

Times will come when God allows in His wisdom what He could prevent with His power. Those are some of the absolute hardest times but they have a purpose. Always.

Aim to eat a healthy, real food diet 80-90% of the time. Healthy doesn’t mean boring! Check out my recipe index if you don’t believe me!

Speaking of food, don’t make it an idol. We can over-indulge or be terrified of every bite. Avoid the extremes! Food is a pleasure meant to be enjoyed but it’s not a panacea and it can’t solve your problems.

The culture and media are not your BFF. Hold up what the world says is okay to the light of the word of God. It will guide you into all truth because the word of God is black and white mama. There are no shades of grey.

Put down your phone and close your iPad. Engage with the people around you. Be wary of becoming so engrossed in social media and texting that you miss the ones right in front of you.

In that light, make meal times ‘cell-free zones’.

Know for certain it’s Christ you want and not just what He can give you. If He never gave you one more thing in this life would He be enough?

Find a mentor who’s walked your path and listen. Mentor someone else. You absolutely do have something a younger person needs to know.

Make friends with people in different age groups, of different cultures and races. You’ll find that life and mothering are just variations on a common theme whatever culture you come from or whatever color your skin.

Sometimes God will remove the very thing you’re holding on to in order to get you to move.

Know your position in Christ. You’re seated with Christ in heavenly places which means whatever He is above, you are above. And that includes everything. Having the right perspective will utterly change your perception.

Surround yourself with people smarter than you. Know you have so much more to learn. In fact, it’s good to feel a little intimidated and it will make you stretch yourself and climb out of your comfort zone.

Embrace what’s unique and quirky about you and embrace it in others.

Read some classic books, old books with words you don’t know. Read poetry. Listen to classical music. It will connect you to something bigger and older and more profound than this shallow, self-involved culture we live in.

Self-pity is a pit. Fight hard against it with everything you’ve got. A grateful heart is the only antidote to self-pity I’ve ever found.

Freedom in Christ isn’t an excuse to do whatever we want. It’s our opportunity to serve. Paul said, “You are not your own”. We are free from the world in order to be bondslaves to Jesus Christ. We are free enough to deny Him or die for Him.

When you go get a pedicure, get to know the woman who’s washing your feet. And tip her well.

If you want your children to follow hard after God let them see you following. What you model they will follow. Children can spot hypocrisy from a mile away.

Be the same person on Monday you want your church friends to think you are on Sunday.

Words make or break lives. Choose your words carefully. The spoken word is the creative word and will bring one of two things to the hearer: life or death. Choose life. Remember God spoke the universe into existence with two words: “God said.”

Be careful how you speak of yourself as well. Every negative word you say about yourself is creating a negative future. Speak God’s word over your life and your children’s lives because His word is truth.

Speak well of your spouse no matter what.

Remind your children often they are world-changers because they are. You are too.

God is all about seasons. They’ll come and go and some will be more enjoyable than others but all have their purpose. How would we ever fully enjoy spring if we never had to go through winter? Find the beauty in the season you’re in.

Sometimes God’s most profound mercy comes wrapped in His biggest test.

You will never know what’s in you until you get stepped on and see what comes gushing out.

To know and not to do means not really to know.

Thoughts are things and you’ll become what you think about most of the time. Take care what you let in your heart. “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” Proverbs 23:7

Live the giving life. Be generous with your time, your money, your hospitality. You can’t take anything with you because you don’t actually own any of it. The more you give away the richer you’ll be.

Fear is a lying spirit. It will always try to get you to do the opposite of what God’s telling you to do.

To believe the impossible we must see the invisible. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1

Thankfully God calls us according to our destiny and not our history.

Sometimes God will take us out before He brings us in.

Just because a blessing falls in your lap doesn’t necessarily mean it’s yours to keep.

The beatitudes are more than pretty words. They’re the hardest, most stringent words Jesus ever spoke.

Good is the enemy of the best. Remember Eve ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

God was in your past, He’s in your present and keep this in mind, He’s in your future getting things ready and lining things up.

Love God. With all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Because how you love is the exact measure of how you’ll live.

There’s more but it’s already a pretty long list. I hope to continue to add to this list over the years. God willing, I’ll get the chance!

xoxo

Kate

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