Children skip into youth ~

Youth leap
into adulthood  ~

Adults run headlong into old age.

Some come to a screeching halt when the body is unable to keep up the normal pace.

Others gradually slow down as life becomes more difficult.

The younger generation catches up and overtakes us. We become inundated with a youth culture that is hard to understand and to which we can relate.

The ophthalmologist who examined Mother’s eyes twelve years ago, observed, “She is fragile, isn’t she.”
She was born the fifth daughter of twelve children. Before any brothers were born, her father took her hunting and taught her everything he would have taught a son. She started her first full time job and married at the age of fifteen. She was a small woman, but agile, strong, and faithful. There was nothing she could not do that she wanted to do or needed to do. She lived to the age of 92, after taking care of my dad, and enduring six years of dementia. And during those years she was fragile.

Now, I know the feeling of this fragility. Though I am in my second childhood, and loving it ~ loving what the Lord is doing in my life ~ there is a sense of losing strength and agility that I once had. Children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren have their own lives, and don’t seem to need us anymore..
This does not mean that we are discontent, or disheartened. More so, we are more content than ever, encouraged even in these difficult times, and more tenderhearted toward others. We are able to see the needs of others, and to pray for them.
Our greatest desire is that we have something lasting and eternal to share with the younger generation, believing that this is God’s plan for His people.

Dear Father, thank you for the seasons of this life, for the agility we need as children, and for the fragility of the senior years. I praise you, that for the things we lost or left behind, you have replaced with your presence and power, the joy that is ours in Christ, our Lord, and the increase of faith and hope for the eternal life that you now share with us. Thank you for the strength and grace that we need for each day. I pray that you bring generations closer in faith and understanding of the true meaning of life and enable us to see the need for each other. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day.  For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.”
2 Corinthians 4:16-17

Music: My Grace is Sufficient
2 Corinthians 12:9-10

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