Elderly People

 

Wednesday, June 7, 2017

I will be your God throughout your lifetime—until your hair is white with age.
I made you, and I will care for you.  I will carry you along and save you.       Isaiah 46:4^(NLT)

Certainly God knew Isaiah would need to be “carried along” when his hair was white with age.  Even a prophet’s mind can wander when you have many decades of memories swirling around in your noggin.

I met both of the young ladies in the picture in school.  Most of you know the one on the right; we met in high school and married 50 years ago; more from her in a minute.

I also met the lady on the left in school…it was in kindergarten!  Patty O’Connor Thomas and her husband Mike grew up in the same neighborhood where I lived, so we went to school in the same classrooms, played in the same places, and walked to the same platform at graduation.  Pat and Mike are also United Methodists and spend a good bit of time each year on mission trips.  We grew up together, but they live in upstate New York and we only keep in touch by Facebook.  Mike can’t resist taking a picture, and Pat thought the sign in Derry, North Ireland was hilarious.  Hmm; it probably would’ve been hilarious before my hair turned like Isaiah’s!

Back to the other young lady; Elizabeth (also a friend of mine on Facebook…and a pretty good cook and soulmate) shared our date experience from last week (yes, when you’re of a certain age and can identify with Pat’s sign, anytime you leave the house together it’s officially a date, even if you’re going to the store to pick up milk and toilet paper!).  Well, here’s how our date went; I’ll let Elizabeth tell it from her Facebook page:

Never a dull moment!  I had a hair appointment today with my hairdresser John ­ a GREAT stylist by the way.  When John took the cape off from around my neck he said, “hum, Cato puts their labels on the outside”, then a moment went by and he said, “huh you seams are on the outside too”, then after another moment he said, “hey your blouse is on backwards”.  We both started to laugh so loud I’m sure the rest of the salon heard us.  I told Rus who was waiting for me outside and he had a good laugh.  After leaving the salon we went to the mall and I was in the restroom having a conversation with someone who was from Queens, NY.  When I said bye and was leaving she grabbed my arm and leaned over and whispered in my ear, “your blouse is on backwards”.  When I told Rus he said he was in the men’s department at Dillards and a man in a turban called him over and pulled something off the back of his shirt and showed it to him.  It was a new shirt and the tag was still hanging on it.  We’ll be 70 this year and so far I think 70 years old is a dangerous age!!!

It’s common to ask those who have lived a long time how they got there.  Some could make the case for Pat and Mike or Elizabeth and Russell that we all drank the same water.  After all, the Native American name of the little village we come from is Hauppauge, and it means “sweet water”. 

But whatever region of the world, or whatever water you’re drinking, there is one formula for a long marriage and, among the ingredients for a successful marriage are:  sharing joyful time together, learning to forgive, paying attention, laughing, and learning to love by staying close to the Father.  And, when you reach a certain age, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to check each other’s clothing for tags and seams when you go out together! J

For You Today

Isaiah had the roughest days of his life ahead of him when the Lord spoke words of assurance that God would be with him and carry him along even when he was old and weak.  Whether you’ve got someone to check your seams and tags and laugh with you, or not…He is always figuring out ways to have your back.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

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