Let’s face it, there are many not so good things about getting older.
- vision changes occur, often resulting in glasses that try to do two things in one place
- skin gets thin resulting in the gradual migration of one’s body in a southerly trajectory
- hair color gets replaced with shiny chicken wire-like hair
- sleep is hard to find or maintain at night
… and those are just a few!
Many years ago, a church we attended had a guest speaker on a special Sunday to honor the seniors in our congregation. This man was one who was loved by the congregation, and was, himself, over seventy years.
It was the most depressing sermon I have ever heard in my entire life! I do not remember the passage of scripture he used in his teaching, but it and his reflections on it were all about how awful it was to grow old.
I remember telling hubby, as we drove home, “be prepared, there might be an outbreak of suicides after that sermon.”
Sitting here in the mid-stage of life (obviously I am counting on more than the average number of years of life) I feel as though his approach was far too ‘cup half full’ for me.
Not everything about the process of moving on in time is bad.
- vision changes mean we get to try out trendy eyeglass frames
- graying hair means we can be a blond one month, followed by a brunette the next, followed by a redhead the next … or let it all gray and look like the wisest person in the room!
- awakening in the night can be an opportunity to pray for those in our lives … or to try every pharmaceutical on the shelves
- skin thinning … heck, that means it will get smoother!
I believe in purpose until our dying breath. I believe value is not determined by our productivity but by who give us the ability to produce.
“Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he,
I am he who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”
Isaiah 46:4
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