#gettingolder | itsawonderfilledlife

Posts Tagged ‘#gettingolder’

Embracing what Endures

Posted in GOD, life, WONDER, tagged #authenticity, #embracingwhatendures, #gettingolder on March 23, 2017| 1 Comment »

So yesterday was a first for me.

It was the first time a birthday number seemed … old.

It’s not like I’m fifty or more (hubby reference, snicker). It’s just that (gulp) fourth-eight sounds like the age of someone older that I feel.

But it’s more than just the numerical change, it’s also the sense that I’m not where I expected to be at this stage of life. In all areas from work, to family, to finances, to physical fitness, to spiritual growth I could easily look at my present realities and feel like I’m simply falling short, even failing in areas of life and living.

Then something about grass withering and flowers falling came to my mind.

I sought out the source of those words, and found them to be from 1 Peter 1. As I read verses 24-25a:

“All people are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of the Lord endures forever”

But then I read the entire chapter (well worth the read), and was especially drawn to the section from verses 17-25:

“Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.
Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For,
“All people are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of the Lord endures forever.”
And this is the word that was preached to you.”
1 Peter 1:17-25

So, who are we? And what does it have to do with what we expect of our lives?

We will wither, die. Our lives, though short, have the ability to have lasting impact, through spreading the seed of the living and enduring word of God, by loving each other, deeply, from the heart.

To do this is to really live, whether we are in our youth or at any time in our lives.

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As I Am … With Room to Grow

Posted in WONDER, tagged #asiamwithroomtogrow, #gettingolder, #selfacceptance, weaknesses on March 18, 2015| Leave a Comment »

We all have different definitions of who we are depending on what image we desire to reflect, based on our stage in life, who we are with, and where we are.

The older I get, the more clearly I see myself, strengths and weaknesses alike. I find I am accepting the real me more every day, and the facades I tried to construct, in past years, are being taken apart. No more trying to be something I am not, no more rejection of who I am, and who I was uniquely created to be.

It’s a good feeling to be more … real.

Maybe it’s my undiagnosed ADD (attention deficient disorder), repressed childhood, or simply immaturity, but I have really struggled, as an adult, with rules and appropriate behavior for certain situations. The worst of which are ProD (professional development) activities at school/work. If they are not interesting, captivating and useful, the demon within me begins to emerge, and all hell breaks loose.

I remember one in particular, when we were watching a video of a very brilliant (and monotone) woman speak about a specific way to assist students who struggle with behavior control. Unfortunately, as boring as her voice was, the excess skin under her arms was … entertaining. And she waved her arms often! So entertaining that I sent a little text to a number if my colleagues in the room, comparing the effect to that of a butterfly in flight. Well, the giggles began … I am surprised I still had a job after that ProD day!

There’s my singing … sigh.

My singing is really bad, but I love to sing. I love to sing while I’m driving, while I’m working on a project, in church. But I am always aware if people around me might hear my voice. Even my kids, when they were really little, would place a finger on my lips to shush me, while singing in church.

Then there’s my sense of humor. I think I am quite witty, humorous. According to my kids … not so much!

Then there’s my horrific grammar … Included in that my gifted-ness to create a run on sentence that could compete with that of any other person on this Earth!

Then there’s my morning coffee addiction …

And, of course, my self-diagnosed ADD.

This emerges as soon as I have more than one brain cell awake, until all of my cylinders cease to fire at night. It seems to be intensifying with each year I live … starting multiple tasks and struggling to remember what I was going to say … mid sentence … which is probably for the best, since I’d lose interest in what the other person had to say, just half way through their response.