Getting Older Is Awesome… Really??
Café Menu for Thursday, April 24, 2014
Today’s Special is: God Is With Us No Matter Our Age
Carefully prepared just for you by your friend, Lara Sadowski
Main Ingredient:
Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people.
– Philemon 1:7 NIV
Entrée:
“Lara, 40 is the new 30! You will love it!”
That is what I heard almost six years ago (yes, you can do the math. 46 is around the corner for me!) and the biggest gift I got was really bad eyesight. Ick! Bifocals and prescription sunglasses didn’t seem really young and hip to me. Oh, and those sweet people who told me how great my 40’s would be failed to inform me that my metabolism would start to slow down.
Translation: what is up with my hips? Mercy.
Please don’t think that I am self-absorbed – I promise I’m not. It’s just that I began looking at my own mortality and realized I was not 21 anymore. And just between you and me – it was a little hard to swallow. I also began to notice that my parents were getting older and that made me a bit sad.
Can you, sweet friends, relate? I know you can and do. Were my 40’s going to be this fun? (Insert sarcasm).
But you know what? The Lord really spoke sweet words to my heart. He told me that “[n]ever will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).
I am not alone. Ever. Wow!
2 Thessalonians 2:16 also tells us that “… God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope.” The Lord freely gives us His encouragement and hope. Sweeter words I have never heard. Do y’all feel the same way?
Getting older ourselves and also watching our loved ones getting older can be really tough. I know many friends whose parents are suffering with Dementia, Alzheimer’s, cancer and the like. Their pain is all consuming at times. I also know people who question if their lives have meaning?
“I’m older… what do I have to show for it?”
“Have I left a positive mark on people?”
“Have I wasted my time?”
Friends, Jesus knows the pain we feel and longs to walk through it with us. Nothing is too trivial for Him… even our squinting eyes and aching joints. Trust Him to walk with you every day. He never disappoints. Unlike my pesky bifocals!
Take Out:
Take all of your pain and suffering and place it at God’s feet. Talk with Him and listen to what He has to say. He is our eternal Comforter and loves us more than I can express.
Dessert:
Heavenly Father, I pray for me and those of us who are dealing with getting older and all of the tough situations that encompasses. Please fill us with Your love, encouragement and hope. Help us to see that no matter our age or circumstance, we are incredibly loved by You. Thank You so much. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
© 2014 by Lara Sadowski. All rights reserved.
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Originally published Thursday, 24 April 2014.
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