Today is my husband’s 82nd birthday. In my wildest dreams I never gave a thought to being married to an 82-year-old man, but then I never really gave a thought to being a 75-year-old woman either. Somehow those thoughts were pushed off into the future. Well, I guess that future is here now.
Someone asked me the other day how we were doing. I replied, “Well, we did the ‘for better and worse,’ and the ‘richer and poorer,’ parts, so, I guess now we are doing the ‘in sickness and in health’ part.”
It is hard to ignore the lessons our bodies are teaching us now. The desires “to do” are still there, but our bodies usually veto the suggestions. They much prefer watching television to exercise and reading over running. Our eyes see all kinds of things that need done, but our bodies say, “no way are you getting down on that floor!”
There are, however, things we can still do well. We can love each other, our families, and others. We can minister to people through prayer and hugs and lots of smiles.
We can love our God with the same fervency as we did when our bodies were younger and more vital, for loving God comes from our souls. We can work on our attitudes in the power of the Holy Spirit and blaze a way for those who follow us to approach their declining years.
When I think about declining years and limited time left on this earth, I remember Solomon’s words. “He has made everything appropriate (or beautiful) in its time. He has also put eternity in their hearts….” [Ecclesiastes 3:11 HCSB]
There is a designated (beautiful) time for everything, even growing older. And God has put eternity in our hearts … we instinctively think of “forever” even when we cannot understand the concept of “forever.” In my heart I am about 35 years old, and I am looking forward to that “forever” when this old body that now refuses to obey me, will be made new “forever.”
