Changes

Changes

The gray hair of experience is the splendor of the old.

Proverbs 20:29

Legendary baseball great Satchel Paige once asked, “How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you were?” What a great question! And the answer has more to do with your attitude than your age.

My friend Sher has a unique way of answering a question about age. When you say, “Sher, how old are you?” she tells you how old she feels that day. One day she’s sixteen, the next day she’s eighty-five. I like that.

One mental youngster said it this way:

I have become a little older since I saw you last, and a few changes have come into my life since then. Frankly, I have become quite a frivolous old girl. I am seeing five 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 is here, he takes a lot of my time and attention. When he leaves, Arthur Ritis 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 such a busy day I’m really tired and glad to go to bed with Ben Gay. What a life!

P.S. The preacher came to call the other day. He said at my age I should be thinking about the hereafter. I told him, “Oh, I do that all the time, Preacher. No matter where I am—in the parlor, upstairs, in the kitchen, or down in the basement—I ask myself, What am I here after?”

We joke about getting old because we don’t really think we want to get there, but the Bible says that a long life is a blessing from God. So we should celebrate it!

Bless me, O Lord, with wisdom as I grow older. Help me to be the example I need to be to those who are younger. Let them see you living in me. Amen.