Ah, yes Friday funday. And the lovely Lisa-Jo at TheGypsyMama is another year older today (actually, it’s still Thursday…so I’m guessing the 25th is her big day) and the theme she picked for this week’s 5 minutes of unedited writing is an oh-so-true one, isn’t it? We are ALL getting older. Head on over there and check out what other folks are saying on this topic:
GO:
For just about as long as I can remember, this season of the year has felt like the beginning of things: the start of school, when I was a student and the start of the church year when I was a pastor. But in that fascinating way life has a way of doing, it is also paradoxically a time for reflecting on the topic for today. When things begin again, I remember that everyone is older, another year older to be exact.
I see it most clearly in the little ones who are part of my life. The ‘baby’ is 18 months old today! Our five-year-olds are starting kindergarten – and I can hardly believe it to be true. Gracie was so proud in her new plaid uniform on Wednesday. Griffin has a couple of weeks to go, but he, too, is excited and proud. Proud to join his older brothers at their fine school, proud to be old enough and big enough and ready enough.
That’s the joy of getting older when you’re younger than…shall we say thirty? It feels exciting, grand, grown-up. Somehow that changes somewhere in our 30’s. Getting older feels heavier somehow, the weight of responsibility and the realities of an aging body began to show up in larger-than-life ways. And with each decade, that becomes more pronounced. Don’t get me wrong – I think there are glorious things to be said about every decade we are blessed enough to live through. But…there is this truth to be borne: our bodies get older, even if we’re fortunate enough to keep a young and resilient mind.
As Madeleine L’Engle once said: “I am every age I have ever been.” And I love that we can access those ages as we walk through our days. And I love that I personally get to remember through watching my kids and their kids move through the years. What a privilege and what a joy.
STOP
Pictures added after ‘the bell.’ Gracie and Lilly at our picnic lunch on vacation last week; Griffin at the ice cream parlor we stopped at driving home; Gracie in her new school uniform. Where does the time go??
I find it so true, as well, that once you turn about 30, getting older just doesn’t seem as fun and exciting. SUCH cute kids, by the way!
They do grow so fast, don’t they?! And I too feel the weight of aging, it’s not all fun and games anymore, eh? All these responsibilities and the heaviness of the task of motherhood- count it all joy though, each moment a gift! God bless you, friend, thanks for these words!
i love how you put all that to words. thanks for the sharing.
Wait till you get to…uh…close to 50! Now I remember so fondly those days of small children and a ‘different’ kind of worry and burden. Enjoy these times.
I, too, am closer to 50 than 40. Mine are 17 (senior!), 15, and 13. The worries do change. I pray for the future spouses of my children. I pray that they grow up in an unbroken household full of love And may they love God and strengthen my children in their spiritual journey. My kids are wonderful, but they’re pulling away. I wish I had the gummy smiles again! Once they get in school, the time flies so fast it makes your head spin!
Maybe this is why I so dreaded turning 30! I foresaw the heaviness?
I love the accessing part of your post — accessing any age. Beautiful!
Oh, those darling faces.
I love M. L’Engle, too – can’t remember how to spell her first name . . . I am getting old. 🙂
Fondly,
Glenda
I love how you said life gets heavier. I think that is a perefect way to describe it.
thanks for stopping by to each of you – but let me clarify…I am NOT in my thirties – haven’t been for 30 years. So…this is the voice of VAST experience in the aging department speaking here. :>)
Hi, Diana, would it be OK with you if I reference your blog post at http://drgtjustwondering.blogspot.com/2011/06/trip-down-memory-lane.html in my Spiritual Memoir 101 blog? Your visits to your former houses gave me an idea I’d like to expand upon. I’d provide a link back to your post. Thanks for considering this.
Love your blog!
Linda
i think that “every age we have ever been” is what our heart holds…as well as our before and our forever.