July.12.02: Light For The Day - "Growing Older"

-- Proverbs 20:29 (NIV)
"The glory of young men is their strength,
gray hair the splendor of the old."

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Lord, that big zero in my age just rounded the corner.
My friends tease me about being over the hill.
They say the best of life is gone. When I hear this, I laugh.

I wonder what You have in store for me this next year?
How can You use me during this phase of my life?
I have no fear of growing older. Life is out there to enjoy.
Thank You for giving me one more year to do so.

I will not be poured into an ancient mold. I may be growing older,
but I refuse to act old. Old age is an attitude.
I'm determined to live life abundantly through Your joy and strength.

I see the trees with their scars and burls. Reflecting Your glorious
sunset, their branches reach heavenward and praise You.
O God. They have survived many of life's storms, just like me.
In the still of evening I can hear their rustling boughs whisper
a night wind's song, thanking You for life.

I'm not ashamed of pain-filled fingers gnarled from arthritis.
They show the work I have done for others. I see the wrinkles
collecting on my face. Character lines, I call them. I specially like
the ones put there from years of smiles. No matter my health,
I can always find ways to serve You, such as letters to the lonely.
Best of all, I can hold others up in faithful prayer.

I thinks You, Lord, for life and that You offer it to me in an abundance
of spirit and joy. Even when I reach my sunset years, I lift my praise to You.

May I reflect Your Holy Spirit all the days of my life.

-- Author Unknown

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-- Jeremiah 9:23 (NIV)
This is what the LORD says:
"Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast
of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches,
24 but let him who boasts boast about this:
that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD,
Who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth,
for in these I delight," declares the LORD."

-- Proverbs 16:31 (NIV)
"Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained by a righteous life."