They say wisdom comes with age and Proverbs 20:29b says, ". . . the gray hair of experience is the splendor of the old." A few weeks ago when We as a family were traveling with my Mother in law we had made a pit stop at a Travel Plaza. While there the lighting was pretty bright compared to the energy efficient light bulbs we have at home. As I looked in the mirror I noticed quite a bit more gray in my hair than I'd realized I had! I asked my M.I.L. Is it just the lighting in here or do I have this much gray hair? She laughed and confirmed my fear that I did have that much, but quickly assured me that it looked real nice, kind of like I'd had a nice frost job done! Thanks (I think)!
So now I wonder who gave me all these gray hairs, was it Steve or was it Michael?! Between the two, of them I've earned every one of those gray hairs! ;) There's an old Amy Grant song that was released around the time Steve and I were engaged. It's called, Oh How The Years Go By. Part of the lyrics are,"Oh how the years go by. We fight, we laugh, we cry as the years go by..." No, thankfully we rarely "fight" we've had our shares of laughter and great times together and we've tasted of the bitter cup of grief. But through it all and by Gods hand we are still together after 18 years of marriage! And we are stronger for it because we've weathered the storms and have come through on the other side victorious! Now I will say this, were it not for God and His keeping grace we would not have weathered those storms! We owe so much to God and His power to keep two totally different people and yet somehow make us one! In regards to that old Amy Grant song the years definitely get better as they fly by! We've both changed in many ways and for the good. Steve has definitely helped me to grow into the person I am today and I really hope that I've been the same to him!
This is the season of Thankfullness and as I take a few moments to reflect on God's goodness in our lives, I feel so unworthy of God's blessings in my life! I thank Him for loving me when there was nothing good in me. I thank Him for daily helping me to grow and become more like Jesus! I'm thankful God doesn't walk out on us, that He is patient and forgiving. That He doesn't settle for less
than our all! Wow and I'm just getting started!
Then there's the blessing of being a wife and a mom, of having a husband who loves and provides for his family! All of our needs God has provided for and many of our wants. Oh may I never take Gods blessings in my life for granted!
I know for me personally through many years God is helping me to not be a complainer, and if you catch me complaining you have my permission to stop me in my tracks and call me on it! But on the flip side of that is the aspect of thankfullness. If I'm busy looking for the things to be thankful for, then maybe, just maybe I won't have time to notice the things nagging at me to complain about! A passage that God has used to challenge me in this area is, Phillipians 2:14-15, which says, "Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky.
Simply and honestly maybe with these new gray hairs that are the splendor of the old and indicate life's experience, are a way that God is making a new and better me. One who complains less and is more thankful.
No comments:
Post a Comment