I’m not that old and yet I notice the menace of ageing. I can’t think as quickly as I used to. I have to think a fraction longer to retrieve the information I need. It is consistent with my age, but annoying none the less. Others may not even notice it, but I do!
In years gone by I spent a lot of time with Mike’s Mom, aka Granny. She was 40 years older than I so when I was 40, she was 80. I hadn’t met her when she was my age (51). I met her in 1985, when I had just turned 21 and she was 61. I remember her as an active, busy bee who served all those around her, from her family to her friends to her church and the community. She baked, sewed and gardened and was absolutely delighted when I danced into her son’s life. In those days when she was in her 60s, she had cruised through menopause, with no HRT, taking no calcium, spending hours in the sun, with no sunblock. She lived to a ripe old age, with her main health issues being the fragility of her bones and skin cancer.
She aged with resilience and dignity and she crossed the finish line victoriously. I wish I had thought in her dying days to read her this:
Romans 8:18-21
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
I love to substitute my name in it….you fill in the blanks with yours…you may never have read this passage like this before!
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For ____________ waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For ____________ was subjected to frustration, not by his/her own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected him/her, in hope that ____________ will be liberated from his/her bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
Bondage to decay. I saw Granny deteriorate and not be able to do anything about it. Now she has been liberated from that and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. How wonderful does that sound?
God has got a plan amidst all our lives. We are on a journey through a very temporary life and we need to 1. enjoy every day and 2. be prepared for the life hereafter. We will breath our last. After death we will go somewhere. By choosing to believe in Christ, I know I’m heaven-bound. While my I see the menace of ageing now, I still have a long way to degenerate! Praise the Lord that it ends in life!
These are the days!
Keep the smile going.
God bless you!
In His Grip,
Helga xx 🙂