I turned 40 a few months ago. I guess I don’t really feel it (besides the weird body aches and back pain :). Since I’m probably around the halfway point, I wanted to reflect a little on my life and how it has been up till now, be honest about my current circumstances, and to delve into how I see how I should approach the future going forward.

I grew up in a Christian family with my mom sometimes filling in and speaking from the pulpit, but not really a pastor. Both my parents had minimum wage jobs, but were frugal with money, and with some help from family, they bought had a house in Reseda. I went to a Christian elementary school, and public school for both middle and high school. I only applied to one college which was CSUN, a 10 mins commute from home. Worked part time at a health food store while full-time in college. Graduated with no debt with a BS degree in Business Administration with the option of Finance. I worked at a toner company and then a testing company for 4 years before getting married and moved up to the Bay Area where we lived for 12 years.

We went to Redeemer Bible Fellowship and participated in small groups and served on and off on worship team. We made a few friends during our time up in the Bay Area. We bought a house at the end of 2013 before the market went crazy. I worked at a real estate company, an assisted living facility, a non profit helping homeless youth and their families, and finally a Christian non profit helping with drug addiction, housing for single mothers, and various homeless services. We thought that we were up in NorCal and would spend the rest of our days there…things changed.

It wasn’t an epiphany…it was more like a gradual realization that our parents would be needing more help in the future, that even though we built a life in the Bay Area and we’d be leaving our secure jobs, our extended family, our community of church friends that we’ve grown to know and love…that it would be okay and that God had a plan for our lives.

Some of the next couple paragraphs might echo my previous post, but hey, life is sometimes repetitive 🙂 It’s been a little over a year since we’ve moved down. We settled in Camarillo which is 30 mins from Aaron and Lauren, 45 mins from Anson’s parents, and 1 hr (without traffic) to my parents. We wanted to be somewhere where the city is safe and roads are clean, a place that would have great weather since we like to walk outside, and not TOO close to family in order to have a little bit of separation. We were able to buy a house much cheaper than those in the Bay Area and this one checked off almost all of our boxes (private backyard, dual sinks, concrete slab for the gym, big kitchen, etc). 

I am able to work from home for my Christian non-profit, Anson is good at using his time doing various things for church, health, and home, and we’re able to live comfortable off our assets/investments. We go to the gym twice a week, and Anson has a workout buddy that pushes him to be better. We’ve joined a Chinese church in the next city over, Thousand Oaks, and host a weekly small group. We serve on worship team once a month and are trying to make an effort to get to know more people within the church. My mom was diagonsed with stage 0 breast cancer and has had 2 surgeries. I’ll be taking her to see the oncologist next week and for us to figure out the next steps (radiation/hormone blockers). It is a blessing to be able to serve her in this way.

Presently, I don’t think I can complain about my life. How is it that God let us be in the Bay Area at the best time for us in terms of Anson’s job by getting in early and getting good options and buying a house before prices went bonkers? Was it all in his plan for us to leave SoCal 12-16 years ago just to come back for family? Why is it that we are pretty much set and don’t have to worry financially? I don’t think it is to just sip mai tais at the beach. I don’t know the answer yet, but I do know that I should try to live purposefully and try to not waste the time I have. I’ve realized that life isn’t that fun if you can’t share it with others and if you aren’t working toward kingdom goals. Now and in the future, I’m hoping to serve willingly at church, love on members of our church family and get to know (strategically) some more people, to serve my family by being cook/dishwasher/cleaner/chauffeur, and a wife that respects and follows her hubby’s leadership.