Well, today is my birthday...funny how they’re not too exciting the older you get! They say age is just a number but tell that to my face and various other areas where gravity has had its way! I don’t get upset over aging. I don’t cover my head and stay in bed as I kiss my youth good-bye. I don’t examine my face in a magnifying mirror (yikes!) to survey the damage as another year marches on. I don’t lament over “what could’ve been” or get out my “bucket list” and see all the things I’ve yet to do.
It may sound trite, but I am too thankful that I was given another year on this earth. I’ve been through enough difficulty in my life to know what’s really important. I don’t look how I did in my twenties nor do I wear the same size. My hair has to be colored to cover the gray that has sprouted over the years. I now have (gasp) reading glasses that are always nearby and I actually choose shoes for comfort now. My motto used to be “beauty is pain” but now it’s “Heaven is flannel and fleece.” I used to be into fashion and clothes shopping but now see it as a chore. Besides, who likes dressing rooms? Is it me, or is the lighting terrible and the three-way mirrors a complete shock to the system?
I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’ve grown comfortable with growing up and growing older. I don’t look or act the way I did in my younger years. I’m amused as I remember getting dressed to go out at 10 p.m. and now, I’m in my pajamas at sunset! I went from scouting Vogue for the latest trends to clipping recipes from women’s magazines. I obey the speed limit, pay my bills on time, take good care of my belongings, vote every election, and am a good citizen - oh my gosh, I became responsible!
I once read where someone said that “birthdays are a crown for making it through another year” and that’s how I choose to look at it. God has been faithful once again! I have had another year of challenges and each one wears a different face. However, I can look at each one and know that God has led me by His grace and the journey has been well worth the price of the fare. All forty-nine years now are a testament to His loving kindness and goodness, and I don’t have to look far to see all that He’s done for me. I’ve had my mountain-tops and I’ve had my valleys, but He was there as my “ever-present help” and was the “glory and the lifter of my head.” With Him, every day has been a birthday filled with gifts, even if a few of those days came with unexpected surprises!
So I sit here another year older, hopefully another year wiser, and another year definitely more thankful than the last one. I think of the scripture that says, “He will satisfy you with long life.” That means He not only gives us a long life but He will satisfy us with and in those years. To satisfy means “to be of sufficient standard, to offer enough to make somebody feel pleased or content, to fulfill a need or gratify a desire.” I guess I can say that’s a pretty good birthday gift, and He even knows my wish list!
So another birthday, and maybe there’s no fountain of youth but I have another fountain and that one keeps me young at heart and keeps me forever…I wouldn’t trade that to be twenty again.
