This was originally posted here . It seems like everywhere we look, thirty is the magic number. Thirty days to a new you, Whole30, thirty easy make-ahead crockpot meals, thirty-minute meals, you get the idea. For the last year or so, forty has been a much more important number for me, though, and it has recurred in my faith walk a lot. This time last year, I remember our pastor talking about how forty is an important number in the Bible. He said it’s either a literal or metaphorical death or end of one thing and birth or beginning of something else. Some sources online also note that the number forty is a symbol for a period of trial or testing. The combination of those things makes forty pretty challenging sometimes, but God is showing me that it is worth the wait (even if the wait is still happening). This time last year, forty was important for me in a lot of ways. I realized my kids were going to be forty months apart, while I waited to hit the forty-week mark with my second chil