Over the HIll Surprise

As you may know, earlier this month I turned 40. I was hopeful that my loved ones would forget about it or at least forget it was the big 4-0. Back at Easter time my mom had me look something up for her on her computer and her email inbox was open. I saw a message from my sister and the subject line said Re:Christine's Birthday. I very quickly closed it not wanting to ruin any surprises they may have had for me but for the two weeks preceding my birthday and following it, I was definitely on guard. On my birthday, mom brought a cake to our bible study for all to share and I thought I had gotten by pretty easily. Then on Mother's Day while at my parents home, cake was served and all present sang Happy Birthday to me. I wiped the sweat from my brow and was thrilled I got by.

This past Saturday we went to my parents lake home to celebrate Memorial Day. I was told that my aunt would be down from Alexandria that day as well as my sister and another aunt and uncle from the cities. We arrived just before noon to find a lot of people and food and balloons, cards, and Over the Hill signs all over the house. Come to find out, my mom and sis had been planning this for a long time and Shannon helped by providing part of the guest list. I was completely caught off guard and very surprised.

It was a fun day of visiting with extended family and friends and great to see relationships from different areas of my life all in one place. The children in attendance played in and around the lake while adults supervised and visited, laughed and told stories. It was a great day.

They say 40 is the top of the hill. Boy am I glad. Climbing hills is tough work. Just this past winter the kids and I traveled to a large hill about 30 miles from here bringing our sleds for a great day of sledding. The hill is huge, the snow was perfect, the weather chilly with a brisk wind. We chose the less windy side to sled on and began our ascent to the top. We reached the top, panting but with great anticipation and each plopped onto our sleds and began our trips down. What fun it was, the breeze in our faces, the snow kicked up into our faces and that tingle as it melted there. The speed, the bumps, the tree we barely missed, the slowing to a stop, giggling and standing up to turn around and look at the steep ascent ahead of us again. Our day of sledding ended up becoming about two hours of sledding due to our complete and total exhaustion after climbing that hill a dozen or more times.

As I look upon my life, I am thrilled to be at the top of the hill. The climb has been tough. There have been times I wanted to give up. There have been times I wondered if it was worth it. There have been tears and anger and frustration and yet there has been hope and love and laughter. The view from the top is great. The best is yet to come and I know that God still has huge things ahead for me and my family. I look with great expectancy to the ride down...and hope I miss the trees.