SONS NUMBER THEIR DAYS: A Deliberate Crossing

“So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” — Psalm 90:12

A Threshold

I’m turning fifty.

Saying that out loud lands heavier than I expected. Not with fear — but with awareness. The years moved faster than I realized, and now I’m standing at the edge of a new decade wondering how I arrived here so quickly.

Not in regret — only by God’s grace, the kind that meets us while we were still far off.

And with clarity.

I don’t want to drift into my fifties the way so many men do — carried there by momentum, obligation, or fatigue.

I want to cross this threshold deliberately.

Naming the Season

So today, I’m beginning something small and intentional. I’m naming it once — not as an invitation, and not for momentum — but simply to acknowledge the season I’m stepping into.

This marks the start of a 50-day Rule of Life leading into my 50th birthday.

Not a challenge.

Not a reset.

Not a stunt.

A season of formation.

Sons let formation speak for itself.

No audience.

No pressure.

Just days numbered on purpose.

Fifty days.

Fifty years.

A deliberate crossing.

Alignment Before Intensity

Sons will face seasons that demand intensity.

But intensity without alignment always burns out.

This season isn’t about running harder.

It’s about ordering my life so I can remain present — with God, with my family, and with the work I’ve been given — in the years ahead.

Deliberateness is not slowness.

It’s direction.

The Rule (Kept Simple)

For the next 50 days, I’m committing to a daily rule — ordinary enough to keep, demanding enough to matter.

Every day:

Read the Bible

Truth before noise. Even a few verses counts.

Write one blog post

Honest. Unpolished. Written — whether published or saved.

Move the body

50 pushups.

50 sit-ups.

Any format. No excuses.

Write one handwritten letter

A short note of gratitude, encouragement, or blessing to someone I love.

Once each week:

Keep the Sabbath

Intentional rest. No striving. Practicing trust by stopping.

No banking days.

No doubling up.

No performance.

If a day is missed, I resume immediately — without guilt.

This isn’t content.

It’s practice.

Each day is numbered — this is how I intend to live it.

A Life That Modeled It

This morning, my wife’s grandfather passed away.

Ninety-three years old.

Papa Frank lived deliberately.

Not loudly.

Not urgently.

Deliberately.

He showed up. He stayed steady. He loved his family across generations. His life wasn’t shaped by moments of intensity, but by decades of quiet faithfulness — the kind that builds people without needing to be seen.

His life reminds us of something sons need to hear:

Legacy isn’t built accidentally.

It’s built deliberately.

Through small, repeated acts of faithfulness that rarely get noticed — but always get felt.

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about him and what his life modeled for our family. You can read that reflection here:

Sons Build Family

https://www.sonship.co/post/sons-build-family

A Word to Sons

Sons, don’t wait for a crisis to wake you up.

Don’t wait for loss to clarify what matters.

Number your days now.

Choose your practices now.

Live deliberately now.

Because the decades ahead won’t be shaped by what you intend to do —

they’ll be shaped by what you practice every day.

The Crossing

This is why I’m doing this.

Not to announce anything.

Not to prove anything.

But to cross into my fifties practiced — not rushed.

Present — not distracted.

At rest — not drifting.

And when February 10 arrives, there will be no recap post.

No announcement.

No summary.

Just this quiet line — lived:

"I entered my 50s deliberately."

-Day one.