40 lessons learned from 40 years of life.

1. You can?t make someone love you let alone like you. And in the long run, you should not be seeking the approval of men, although it?s a nice thing to have. All that matters is that you not just know but fully grasp that God loves you.
2. You should never buy a used car from a lot where the gas tank gauge doesn?t work. You should never settle for less just because you don?t want to wait.
3. Hope is the driver for us to live on. Sometimes you need someone to remind you where hope is, and sometimes you will remind others.
4. Self-examination is the hardest thing we will ever do and the most rewarding.
5. Horses are expensive, unpredictable, and loads of enjoyment. Wear the helmet, seal the grain bucket, and don?t let them smell the fear on your palms.
6. Hair is a great place to take risks. It will always grow back.
7. The maple donut should not control you; you should control it.
8. You don?t have to like it, but exercise is necessary for optimum function.
9. Thankfulness should be practiced every day. It?s the purity drops in the gloom and doom buckets of life.
10. It?s God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Not God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Bible.
11. Living with Holy Spirit, communicating well, parenting on purpose and growing relationships all take a lot of effort, practice, and work. It?d be nice if it all just happened, but it doesn?t.
12. The devil isn?t just a purple puppet; he?s a real being with an army of evil spirits bent on destroying humans. You have authority over him with the power of Jesus Christ.
13. We screw up sometimes. And it?s right for us to say we are sorry to everyone, including our children.
14. Pain in my body is telling me something isn?t right. Sometimes, ignoring pain can be the fast track to a preventable death.
15. Unlocked mailboxes are inviting theft. Not guarding your heart also invites theft.
16. The very best and healthiest relationships are always 2-way streets.
17. Skiing is not for everyone. Neither is deep-sea diving, eating sushi, and tongue piercings.
18. You will never be too old to learn something new, and you cannot be good at everything.
19. Respect, appreciate, and honor your kids. Their plans, dreams, and desires should not be shelved because you are the adult. Devaluing your kids invites rebellion, breeds resentment and sets them up to be dysfunctional in the future in large degrees and in multiple areas.
20. I love to dress my body and be beautiful. And it?s ok if others do not share my enthusiasm. What others do will not dictate what I do.
21. God never asked us to stop learning and seeking his mystery. We should never ever think we know all there is to learn about him. The minute we think we know it all is the minute we begin to become spiritually stagnant.
22. Problems will always plague us. What matters is how we handle them.
23. Doing hard things are usually the best things. Easy Street is around every corner, but going down, it often leads to a fruitless life. Do the hard things.
24. It?s ok if you don?t have all the answers. They usually are just out there waiting to be discovered, so go find them.
25. Watch out for people with no sense of humor, don?t like kids, and have no dirt on their floors. I?m just saying? Watch out.
26. Forgiveness is mostly for us and completely necessary for inner healing.
27. Love is the greatest. Without love, the purpose of life is null and void.
28. It is very good for you to seek out help from therapists and others more experienced and wiser to work through emotional trash. Not just for yourself but your marriage.
29. You are responsible for yourself. Make the correct improvements to yourself and everyone else around you will benefit.
30. Never say, ?your kids will never do that.? You will save yourself from having to eat humble pie later.
31. Shame is not a garment God?s children should be wearing. Regret should melt into forgiveness then turned into an experience shared with others with the expectation of helping others.
32. There really are people in this world that have time and room for you to be their friend, you just have to find them. Don?t be, yourself, a person so busy you have no time for new people. Relationships are what we were made for and developed face to face whenever possible.
33. We can?t always smell our bad breath, dirty hair, and feel our selfish behavior. Sometimes, you have to ask someone what they see and accept their constructive criticism.
34. Ask advice from people you trust, and no matter is too small. It can save yourself from a lot of wasted time and frustrating mistakes.
35. Make monuments of where you?ve been, so you don?t forget how far you?ve come.
36. Remodeling a house, is always going to cost way more money and time then you imagined. It?s a romantic idea, but the romance ends at the word idea.
37. Happiness is homemade. We are in charge of manufacturing it ourselves.
38. There will always be more work to be done. Play and time to be creative must be scheduled and done without guilt. No one on their deathbed wishes they would have worked harder, except maybe in working to have discovered God more intentionally.
39. Sharing passion and growth of the same God is essential to a successful marriage. So is, honesty, laughing, praying, time-wasting, and dreaming. A healthy sex life with our spouse is set free when forgiveness is practiced, unselfishness is harnessed, and fear is stamped out. God created sex for more than procreation, so get it often.
40. Change is inevitable if one desires success. And success travels uphill, so be ready to work out the glutes.