On July 4, Art and I went to my sister-in-law’s house in Appleton. My brother-in-law and his wife were there, also. It was a little odd because it was only our generation gathered together for the holiday. All the kids (who are in their 20s) were working or had other plans. We had a good time. We played a game, watched a movie, and cooked out.
When we were eating our meal together, my sister-in-law who was hosting us started to talk about how challenging it was to come up with a menu that worked with all our needs. One has acid reflux. One was recently diagnosed with diabetes. I have the gluten allergy. We each have our own dietary concerns. That led to the question of “when did we get so old?” It’s an honest question. We are all in our 50s and starting to think more about retirement than about changing jobs or advancing in our jobs. We’ve all had some recent health challenges related to aging. We are definitely not teenagers any more.
That day’s experience and discussion have led me to reflect more about how short the journey really is from toddlerhood to senior citizen discounts. It’s been 40 years since I graduated from high school. I’ve been ordained 33 years, married 32 years. Those sound like long time periods, but they seem to have whizzed by. In some ways it seems like I should be 20 years old, but in other ways I know that I have had a ton of experiences in my life. Time is a concept that has a lot of variations.
I remember a few years ago when my Mom had shoulder surgery. I was staying at her home for a few days to help her out, and one morning I found myself needing to tie her robe for her because she couldn’t. Suddenly, a Bible verse came to mind: “Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” (John 21:18) My mom was both proud and annoyed when I mentioned it to her – proud because her daughter could quote scripture, annoyed because I was quoting it at her when she wasn’t feeling well.
The good news in all of this is that God never leaves us on our own, no matter where we are in our life’s journey. Another Bible verse reminds us that “neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39) From birth to death God loves us and knows every detail about us, even every hair on our heads. Time marches on, but God is eternal. Our life journey has its ups and downs, but God is constant.
God’s continued blessings on your journey!
Pastor Beth
