Month: January 2025

How Did I Get Here

I never expected to get old. I don’t know why…I just never pictured myself as old. I know it happens to everyone if they are lucky enough to make it to old age. But I didn’t expect it to happen to me, at least not so quickly. After all, I am a Baby Boomer. We are forever young, aren’t we?  And yet, here we are. My high school classmates are slowly falling apart or dying. Even Gidget and Moondoggie are gone. And even though I don’t feel old, the world constantly reminds me in subtle and subtle ways.

It began back in 2020, during the pandemic. The word “elderly” was used frequently. Wait! Are they talking about me?? That hit me with a jolt. Then our sweet neighbors volunteered to go to the grocery store for us because elderly people were told to stay home. That was thoughtful, but we never quit going to the grocery store. Besides, we are not elderly! My great-grandmother was elderly, but I am most certainly not!

However, according to experts, I became elderly some years ago. I hate the word, “elderly” because it sounds so fragile and frail. I’m also not crazy about “old,” “aged,” or “geriatric.” Some people dislike the term, “senior,” but that is one I can tolerate. People try to find nice ways to say old. I notice it, especially in the names of Sunday School small group classes for senior adults. (I just outed myself as old!) I was once in a class called, “Crown Adults.” They might as well call it God’s Waiting Room.

This business of aging has been especially on my mind this month because my husband and I both have birthdays in January. I have already had mine, so for a couple of weeks I am older than he is. And both of us have a really big number looming ahead next year. How in the world did this happen?

Despite everything I have just written, I am actually at peace with my age. It’s interesting how the shift from feeling “forever young” to suddenly seeing the signs of aging can happen so gradually, but still feel like a surprise when it hits. It’s like one day you wake up, and the world is reminding you in ways big and small that time is moving on. I guess I don’t like to be told that I am old. And I’m not crazy about looking old either. But there are some perks that come with being older. I am not opposed to taking advantage of a senior discount. And although it is sometimes annoying, lowered expectations of others can work in my favor. I like being able to sit down and get lost in a book in the middle of the day. Or having my pajamas on before Wheel of Fortune starts. I am not above playing the senior card when it works in my favor. My sister says, “In our declining years we can decline anything we want.” I like that! I am much more content at this point in my life. I don’t have to be on the go or attend every event.  

So what is my purpose at this point? I am still here so God must not be finished with me. I still do some counseling and that is fulfilling to me. I can listen and encourage folks. I can pray. And I can tell others about God’s faithfulness, even into my old age. 

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

Reflections on New Year’s Day: Hope Amidst Tragedy

New Year’s Day!   I awoke early this morning, at about 5:30, thinking “A new year!” I thanked God for allowing me to live to see the dawning of another year. I am having a birthday in a few days, and at my age, another new year is not a given. I stayed down for a few minutes, talking to God and thinking about plans and goals. And then I turned on the television.

Only three hours into 2025, and already humans are killing each other! Why?!

A man drove a truck into a New Year’s Eve crowd on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, killing and wreaking havoc. People were celebrating the new year. People with plans and goals. Maybe some were getting engaged or celebrating other life events. Many were anticipating the Sugar Bowl later tonight. Officials are using phrases such as “IEDs,” and “terrorist attack.”  Such a tragic way to begin a new year.

I am remembering past Sugar Bowls I have attended. The Ritz Carlton, just a block away from the crime scene.  A New Year’s Eve dinner at Antoine’s, brunch at The Court of Two Sisters, a parade down Canal Street. As I write these words, the French Quarter is virtually shut down and the Sugar bowl is a question mark. 

It has only been one week since we celebrated the birth of the Prince of Peace. My mind goes to the words penned by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:

And in despair I bowed my head;
“There is no peace on earth,” I said;
    “For hate is strong,
    And mocks the song 
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
    The Wrong shall fail,
    The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men.” 

God is not dead. He saw it and He weeps. And miraculously, He is not finished with us. The peace Jesus offers us in this lifetime is peace in the midst of sorrow and tragedy. We will not know perfect peace on this side of Heaven. Until then, we live in a fallen world with broken people. So for 2025, I hold to the promise that He is with me, nothing that happens to me takes him by surprise, and that someday He will make all things new (Rev. 21:5).