Encouragement
Due to a full schedule this past week (which included our son's marriage to a wonderful lady and our son and his family coming from Houston for the wedding) we're going to draw upon some previous thoughts.
We've all heard the saying that 'aging is not for sissies' and we've found that to be VERY true these past 2 yrs.
Maybe the only qualification I have for writing this is:
Being almost 81 yrs. of age, married for 56 years to a great wife, from whom I learned most of this. You will have to be the judge as you read on. But please save this paper,
for you may find as you grow older, that it has some wisdom to it.
~A SENSE OF HUMOR IS ALWAYS HELPFUL!
Here are some things that have helped me see the lighter side of growing older.
(Notice that I said 'older' not 'old'.....
as OLD is a destination, while OLDER is a work in progress!)
~Charlotte Lankard wrote:
"Laughter is like 'jogging on the inside' and the best defense in life may be....
a good sense of humor."
~Elton Trueblood's book, 'The Humor of Christ' says:
"This has been a dimension in the character and teachings of Jesus which has been almost universally neglected and obscured."
He lists 30 places in the New Testament where Jesus used humor (or as we sometimes say 'tongue in cheek') to drive home a point. Most of these are in the book of Matthew with others in Mark and Luke.
~So many humorous sayings on 'growing older' have made the rounds on the Internet, so I'll not bore you with repeats, but here is one of my favorites, by Harold Krebbs.
"The reason I know that my youth is all spent,
My get-up-and-go has got up and went.
But I really don't mind when I think with a grin
Of all the places my get-up has been.
Since I've retired from life's competition
I busy myself with complete repetition.
I get up each morning, dust off my wits,
Pick up my paper and read the obits.
If my name is still missing, I know I'm not dead.
So I eat a good breakfast and go back to bed."
~SOMEONE (wish I knew who) HAS HUMOROUSLY SAID:
"Old Folks are worth a fortune:
with silver in their hair...
gold in their teeth...
stones in their kidneys...
lead in their feet
and gas in their stomachs."
~An older lady said:
"I see 5 gentlemen every day:
As soon as I wake up, Will Power helps me get out of bed~
then I go to see John.
Then Charlie Horse comes along and when he's here, he takes up a lot of my time~
When he leaves, Arthur Itus shows up and stays the rest of the day!
He doesn't like to stay in one place very long, so he takes me from joint to joint.
After a busy day, I'm really tired and am glad to go to bed with Ben Gay. What a life!"
~Another said:
"The preacher came to see me the other day and said that at my age, I should be thinking about the hereafter. I told him that I do!
All the time, no matter 'where' I am...in the parlor...upstairs...in the kitchen...
or down in the basement, I always ask myself, "Now what am I here after?"
~Someone said:
"I like my new bifocals, my dentures fit just fine. My hearing aid is perfect...
but oh! How I miss my mind!"
My Mom had a good sense of humor that helped carry her through the years as a farmer's wife in windy Western Oklahoma. She hated the wind in March and said,
"If my birthday was in March, I'd change it!"
She also said, "If they took all of the wind out of Oklahoma, it wouldn't be as big as Rhode Island!"
During the drought, when she was SO tired of the dry weather and no rain, she said,
"I sweep Texas out of our house one day, then the next day I sweep Kansas out!!"
She also said:
"When Noah's flood came, we got half an inch here in Altus!" (my hometown)
I was blessed to be born to a Dad who could enjoy a good story and who would greet each new day with "It's a great day to be alive!" Having farmed all of his life, our family was pleasantly surprised when Dad and Mom took up the game of golf when they were in their 50's. One day, Dad said, "You know, this farming is getting in the way of my golfing!"
My Mother-in-law was bedfast the last 6 years of her life, but due to her sweet spirit,
the nurses called her their 'angel'. One day as she was looking out her window, she said, "Didn't God give us beautiful clouds?"
Then with a sly grin she turned to my wife and said....
"Well you know He COULD have put mud up there!"
My Father-in-law had a dry sense of humor, as well as a million dollar grin.
He had a sign on his pickup truck:
"Don't regret growing older as it's a privilege denied many people!"
That sign now hangs in my wife's sewing room.
My wife has lived, loved and laughed through almost 33 years of living with Lupus, so maybe some of her traits have rubbed off on me. When I had a stroke, my wife called 911 and within minutes, several medics and firemen were by my side, doing all of the emergency things that they do at a time like that. As I was lying on the floor while they checked my vital signs, etc. I looked up at the circle of men standing around me and said, "I guess you guys know that where 2 or 3 are gathered, a Baptist preacher will start preaching!" (At that moment, my wife said that she knew that I was improving!)
Several yrs. ago as I was trying to prepare this writing on HUMOR, I fell backwards from some steps, onto asphalt, hitting the back of my head, cutting it open. While the Dr. was putting 7 staples in my head, I said, "Well, now I'll have a scar to match the one on the other side of my head where I was kicked by a horse when I was 3 years old."
While waiting for a tetanus shot, I told La Moyne....
"I'm TRYING to find the humor in all of this...to use in this week's writing about Humor!" We both laughed!
I realize that there are many times in our lives, when we can NOT laugh, so let me share some of my favorite serious sayings.
~Robert Browning wrote:
"Grow old along with me
The best is yet to be.
The last for which the first was made.
Our times are in His hand, Who said,
'A whole I planned...youth shows but half'
Trust God, see all nor be afraid."
~Jeff D. Ray wrote:
"Let me grow lovely growing old...so many fine things do.
Laces, ivory, gold and silks need not be new.
There is healing in old trees and old streets, a glamour holds.
Why not may I as well as these, grow lovely, growing old?"
~Longfellow put it well:
"What then? Shall we sit idly down and say, 'The night hath come, it is no longer day?
The night hath not yet come...we are not quite cut off from labor by the failing light.
Something remains for us to do or dare, even the oldest trees some fruit may bear.
For age is opportunity no less than youth itself, though in another dress.
And as evening twilight fades away, the sky is filled with stars invisible by day.
~Robert Frost said:
"The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep...
and miles to go before I sleep.....and miles to go before I sleep!"
I'd like to share this article in 'Our Daily Bread' written by Vern Grounds:
~The former president of Columbia Bible College (J.Robertson McQuilkin)
pointed out that:
God has a wise purpose in letting us grow old and weak:
"I think God has planned the strength and beauty of youth to be physical.
But the strength and beauty of age is spiritual.
We gradually lose the strength and beauty that is temporary so we'll be sure to concentrate on the strength and beauty which is forever. And so that we'll be eager to leave the temporary, deteriorating part of us and be truly homesick for our eternal home. If we stayed young and strong and beautiful, we might never want to leave."
When we are young and happily occupied with all our activities, we may not long for our celestial Home.
But as time passes, we may find ourselves:
~without family and friends
~afflicted with physical difficulties
~no longer able to relish food
~troubled by sleeplessness.
Mr. Grounds' advice:
'Be grateful that, as the apostle Paul wrote in I Timothy 6:17:
"God gives us richly all things to enjoy" in life's summer and autumn.
Rejoice too that with the onset of life's winter we can anticipate that we'll soon be living in the land of eternal spring.
The future and Eternity are as bright as the Promises of God!
Know the Promisor and enjoy His adequacy in ALL things!
PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
The opinions expressed by authors do not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com. This is especially true with articles that
deal with personal healthcare and prophecy. We encourage the reader to make their own decision in consultation with God, His Word, and others as needed.
This article has been read 2083 times < Previous | Next >
Read more articles by Travis Wiginton or search for other articles by topic below.
This article has been read 2083 times < Previous | Next >
Search for articles on: (e.g. creation; holiness etc.)
Read more by clicking on a link:Free Reprints
Main Site Articles
Most Read Articles
Highly Acclaimed Challenge Articles.
New Release Christian Books for Free for a Simple Review.
NEW - Surprise Me With an Article - Click here for a random URL
God is Not Against You - He Came on an All Out Rescue Mission to Save You
...in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them... 2 Cor 5:19
Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Acts 13:38
LEARN & TRUST JESUS HERE
FaithWriters offers Christian reading material for Christian readers. We offer Christian articles, Christian fiction, Christian non-fiction, Christian Bible studies, Christian poems, Christian articles for sale, free use Christian articles, Christian living articles, New Covenant Christian Bible Studies, Christian magazine articles and new Christian articles. We write for Jesus about God, the Bible, salvation, prayer and the word of God.
In Christ,
Julia