#114of365 #FaithBites #FaithJourney #GetOffMyLawn

Today’s lesson is about aging or getting older. A couple of weeks ago, I turned 41. This is the first birthday that I didn’t worry about it or feel older at all. I felt like me having a good time. Then I started to look around. Things I knew as a child are changing. Next year will be 20 years since my undergraduate graduate, 10 since my dad passed, I will be 42, 10 years since my sister has been married, 12 years at the university, 10 years since my first child was born, nearly half my life since I was able to buy alcohol, and I hope to graduate with my Ed.D. Those milestones are huge. I look at myself as transitioning into another phase in my life. At least I can say, when I was your age, I had to walk 10 miles to school, uphill, in the snow, both ways, barefoot. And then of course, “Get Off My LAWN”. Ha

My bones are creaking. My get up and go has got up and went. My friends are feeling older. They complain about their hair, their bodies, their memory, times just slipping, slipping, slipping. In our world, we judge everything by time: time to graduate, time in a relationship, time for a meeting, time till the kids are out of the house, time for meals, time to get out of debt. Everything is time. We let it control us instead of us living for the moment.

“The glory of young men is their strength, gray hair the splendor of the old.” – Proverbs 20:29

“Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding?” – Job 12:12

“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

God is with us until the end of days. He sustains us. He also says that in age we have understanding. Sure, our strength may not be what it once was. Sure our endurance may stink. We may not be able to run as long and as hard. We may not have the physical mojo that we once had, but we have understanding. We have experience. I often think of decisions I made when I was young, supposedly in my prime, and how stupid I was. I’m surprised I’m alive sometimes with how stupid I was. Sure I’d love to have the knowledge and experience I have and the body of a 20-year-old. (Not my 20-year-old body, but an Adonis-like person. Ha). I know my end may be nearer than I want. I also realize that I could be closer to the end than the beginning. I have to choose on a daily basis to trust in the Lord. Trust he has given me experiences and supports to live and love each chapter of my life. It is not easy. The greys pop up more and more. The food gives more and more indigestion. But my experience and opportunities continue to grow.

Are you willing to embrace the next stage of your life? Are you willing to look at age as just a number and not a defining characteristic?

I am willing (with the help of God)