Author: Jane Foard Thompson

Jane Foard Thompson is an inspirational speaker and award winning author and poet. A former Montessori teacher in Texas and Utah, for eight years Jane and her husband were missionaries in Honduras, Central America. After working for the American Red Cross in Idaho, they now live in Florida, where she writes, leads music and women's Bible studies at their church, and enjoys nine grandchildren and her Golden Retriever, Lily.

Old Age is Not for Sissies

“Old age on a good day is a dance we don’t know the steps to.”  Anne Lamott. Grace (Eventually)

I’ve arrived at that age where friends don’t tell me about an eyelash on my cheek for fear that black hair might be growing there. When a child invites me to play on the floor, I have to give serious thought to getting back up again. I once slapped meals together while talking on the phone, listening to the radio, correcting homework and planning a weekend trip all at once. I’m now challenged to recall why I went out to the garage freezer.

Arielle & Grammi
Arielle & Grammi

It would be easy to get depressed when my granddaughter squeezes the skin hanging from my upper arms and says, “You’re squishy, Grammi.” I could be frustrated that it takes a series of movements to straighten up after sitting in a chair for a while. And I’d love to blame my doctor when all the aches and pains that limit my activities are written off as arthritis.

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As I remind my mother when she moans about her loss of mental faculties, old age is not for sissies.

But if, as the Psalmist says in Psalm 139, I am fearfully and wonderfully made, what’s the deal with the mechanism wearing out and running down? Why don’t my efforts at exercise, nutrition, brain teasers and prayer lead to a physically and mentally robust life?

After decades of working to get better, stronger, wiser (and many times, struggling to get leaner) is this all there is?

Jack H Thompson - all rights reserved
Jack H Thompson – all rights reserved

A look at the clouds billowing upward in the afternoon heat reminds me that this certainly is not all there is. If it’s all about me, how I feel and what I can do, then I’ve seriously limited my perspective, and my future.

This failing body and memory are daily reminders that my home is not in this world, my hope is in the Lord and my greatest longing is for relationship with him.

I have asked the Lord for one thing; one thing only do I want: to live in the Lord’s house all my life, to marvel there at his goodness, and to ask for his guidance. Psalm 27:4  GNTD

Isn’t life here a kind of proving ground? A chance to see what is in our hearts, and what, and who, we will trust?

Related articles

Juggling too much?

Have you had those days, when you try so hard, very well intended, but get nowhere?

Some days I feel like I should be in the circus, I’m so good at juggling. My to-do list is longer than my shopping list and new must-do’s rush in as the tyranny of the urgent pulls me in so many directions that I’m exhausted before mid-morning, and worse, accomplishing very little.

Recently, my attempt to walk my Golden Retriever, Lily, and three others I was caring for felt just like my interior frustration—pulled in four directions and going nowhere.

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Brett Davies © 2011

When I returned from the walk, I searched for “confusion” in the Bible and found strong words.

“And they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem, to injure and cause confusion and failure in it.” Nehemiah 4:8 (Amplified Bible)

“In the confusion, lying preachers will come forward and deceive a lot of people. For many others, the overwhelming spread of evil will do them in.” Matt 24:11 (The Message)

Ouch. Clearly, confusion is not my friend.

But simply not wanting to be confused, and resisting being pulled in many directions, all of which are good in themselves, is not enough.

“One reason we are so harried and hurried is that we make yesterday and tomorrow our business, when all that legitimately concerns us is today. If we really have too much to do, there are some items on the agenda which God did not put there. Let us submit the list to Him and ask Him to indicate which items we must delete. There is always time to do the will of God. If we are too busy to do that, we are too busy.”  Elizabeth Elliot

As in so many areas of life, doesn’t it all depend on where we put our focus and trust? Isn’t it a matter of willing our focus back to the Lord and choosing to trust him with our circumstances, with our choices and with our future? With every minute of every day?

Once again I choose to trust that God has prepared the way before me, with provision along the way. Only then, as the warring demands inside come into order, can I proceed with my day, one step at a time.

MTSOfan
MTSOfan

“In You, O Lord, do I put my trust and confidently take refuge; let me never be put to shame or confusion!” Psalm 71:1 (Amplified Bible)

Questions:

Do you have a daily struggle?

What do you do to manage or change it?