Blessed Birthdays

I am thankful for aging. Age brings many gifts, the first of which is Perspective. Events of my childhood stand out as feature-film length when they were but six-second vines. When I was 8, our dog Ginger gave birth to three fat puppies. My sister and I played with them endlessly, cuddling and naming them, and were heartbroken when they went to new homes. And oh! how the time dragged in those days until Christmas, and birthdays, and the county fair! Then came the really long year I was 13 when nothing in world news compared to the horror of pimples on my nose or the thrill of a cute boy smiling at me in the lunch line. At 24, summer crept along lazily while I lounged with my two little girls in the sun at the lake. At 33, the pace picked up as I was distracted by moves and job status and image, and chunks of my 40's blurred by my preoccupation of threats to my health. Perspective is good friends with Wisdom. Wisdom knows that Time is fleeting. Wisdom knows that what other people think of me is none of my business. The older I get, the greater the percentage of the population becomes on the younger side of me and I begin to feel like Everyone's Mother. What is intimidating about everyone being younger than you? Nothing! I am old enough now to know I don't know much. I am old enough to know that I control very little in my own life much less anyone else's. Every day the sun rises and sets on schedule without my help. Spring follows winter with summer after that and I don't have to lift a finger. God is on His throne and He laughs at the boastful plans I make. He knows I am made of dust and my days--like grass--are numbered and fleeting. I do not pine for my youth or wish to return to The Good Ol' Days. These words from 2 Corinthians 4:16 help keep my focus, "That is why we are not discouraged. Though outwardly we are wearing out, inwardly we are renewed day by day." My favorite part of my life is happening right now and the BEST--is yet to come!