Footsteps In The Valley: The 50's Flu

Thursday, March 1, 2007

The 50's Flu

Ok, I sheepishly admit it. In January, I was about to turn age 50 and I was letting it get to me. It is not that I have to look 20 again (Hey it would be nice). I wouldn't go out and nip and tuck everything like Demi Moore did so I could be with a much younger guy, if I had the money (Well maybe a few things LOL). It is just that I really don't feel like 50. When I was 20 years old, 50 seemed so far away. Now in reverse 20 sometimes still feels like only yesterday. I stopped to think what was making me so unhappy about turning 50. Yes our bodies betray us but the shell is not the part of me that is most precious to God or to anyone else that really cares for me. Yes, I wish I could do some of the things I could do at 20 but what I realized is that the 20 year old could not do some of the things I can do now. I guess what it really came down to is that I was really just being time selfish. Time as we get older seems to go by faster and it seems that I never have enough of it anymore and I started to think with my sister battling cancer how much I have left. Then I remembered words of wisdom I read somewhere before. If you have thoughts that tear you down they are from Satan not from God. God's love is there to build us up and make us stronger so that He may use our love, character, and strength to honor his will for our lives. We don't have to be strong people to begin with. We only need to believe and trust in God. His love and strength can conquer anything if we will only believe and trust in Him. So I took my thoughts to prayer. I prayed that God would remove these negative thoughts from my mind and replace them with positive ones. I prayed that His love would show me things that would boost my self-esteem, so that Satan could not bring me down. I told Him that I gave my life to him so many years ago and that my life and my time were His. It did not matter how much I had or didn't have as long as I had God in my life.Since that prayer a number of remarkable things have happened in my life. An old guy friend from back in high school contacted me out of the blue. We were good friends in high school but had not been in contact since then. He got my email from our alumni site. We had so much fun catching each other up with our lives, families, and what we were doing with our art (We had art classes together in high school). I sent him current pictures of myself and my family as well as my old graduation picture. He emailed me back that my new ones were almost indistinguishable from my graduation picture. Now I know he was being gracious but I also know it brought a smile to my face and brightened my day. I could feel God's hand all over it. The next day my students were discussing birthdays and they asked when mine was. I told them mine was the up coming Sunday (What a joy I get to celebrate it this year on the Lord's Day). Then a student asked how old I was going to be. A boy said, "You never ask a woman that!" LOL Well I tell you the way I had been feeling I would have let it drop at that, but a joy came into my heart at that moment and so I said guess. They started at 35 (I know they started low so they would not insult me) and I kept saying higher. Now I don't know if God was clouding there eyes LOL or if they are just really bad at guessing age LOL, but I actually had to pull out my driver's license because several of my students would not believe I was about to turn 50. They said I look and act way too young to be that old. Well children or not God gave me such a shot of adrenaline joy I could not believe how he was answering my prayers. He has done so much to point out the blessings and gifts he has given me with time these past 2 weeks. All I can say is, "PRAISE THE LORD FOR YOU FILL MY HEART WHEN EVER I AM IN NEED." So yes growing old is a fact of life we can't avoid and can only try to cheat for so long. However God has shown me so much love, I can now say that I welcome 50 with open arms and praise. Oh, I purposefully left the best for last. Right after I said the original prayer God spoke to me and told me something that filled my heart with such joy that it brought me to tears then as it does now. Before I prayed I kept thinking of when I was around 20 years old. After I prayed God said to me, "Would you really want to go back to being 20 again? You did not have your daughter I gave you. You did not have your son I gave you. Your gifts and wisdom were not what they are now. Do you really want to be 20 again? You weren’t saved when you were 20. Would you really want to be there without me again? I shouted, "NO! NO! GOD NO!" At that point I felt such peace, faith, and joy in my heart. God I don't know what is in my future, how much time I have, or where you will take me. As long as I have you God my time is precious and good. Come on 50, I can't wait to see what God has in store for me!

Beauty Is Skin Deep

Firm and Fit when I was twenty
Lord I was really hot way back then
The trials that age would bring to me
My youthful body never to be seen again

It is ten times harder to lose a pound
But a whole lot easier to put them on
Days of not worrying what you eat
Well those days are all long gone

Oh other things have made their mark
With two pregnancies there was a price
My Mommy breasts no longer perky ones
Still I’d do it again and never think twice

Trying to find more time to exercise now
Since my metabolism keeps running slow
What’s my good and bad cholesterol doing
Lord there is so much more now to know

My middle aged spread tries to spread more
What ever happened to my buns of steel
Celery sticks, V-8, and diet shakes
What I would give for dessert with my meal

It use to seem whatever I wanted to eat
Was either fattening or not good for me
So I changed my diet and eat healthy now
Hoping my mirror will be nicer to me

Oh then there is that moment of truth
When you have to climb up on the scale
To see if all your efforts really paid off
Hoping now this time your diet won’t fail

I have learned it’s important to be healthy
But youthful looks are only skin deep
For no man or woman can control time
Not with special creams or beauty sleep

What’s more important is what’s inside
Faithful beauty is the true answer for me
God gives faithful men rose colored glasses
And someday one will look lovingly at me

FaithfulToOne © 2007

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GOD GIVES US HOPE

HOPE_________________________ _____________________________ God is my comfort _______________ When I grow weak_______________ His love and grace_______________ Are what I seek_________________ _____________________________ Through Almighty God____________ There is Hope__________________ _____________________________ I will soar like an eagle____________ With strong open wings___________ Singing praises to Him____________ Like an angel sings_______________ _____________________________ Through our Praise______________ There is Hope__________________ _____________________________ I will not grow weary_____________ As I continue to run______________ My strength is renewed___________ By God’s only Son_______________ ____________________________ Through our Savior______________ There is Hope__________________ _____________________________ I will seek the Lord______________ For all that I need_______________ It is only with Him______________ That I can succeed______________ ____________________________ Through the Cross______________ There is Hope_________________ ___________________________ My heart fills with joy____________ During dark lonely hours__________ God’s love poured out to me________ With the Holy Spirit’s powers_______ _____________________________ Through the Holy Spirit___________ There is Hope__________________ ____________________________ I cling to the Word _____________ As my faithful guide ____________ Scriptures direct me____________ God always at my side___________ ___________________________ Through the Bible______________ There is Hope_________________ _____________________________ I pray for His wisdom_____________ To quench my soul_______________ With prayers I give Him___________ Complete control________________ _____________________________ Through our Prayers_____________ There is Hope__________________ ____________________________ My blessings come______________ With trust in the Lord___________ He is my strong shield___________ And my battle sword____________ ____________________________ Through our Trust______________ There is Hope_________________ ____________________________ My faith growing stronger_________ With sincere dedication__________ Inspired by Christ’s love__________ And His promise of salvation______ ____________________________ Through our Faith______________ There is Hope__________________ ____________________________ I pray for your new faith _________ Please search from within________ Believe in Jesus Christ___________ Free the chains of your sin________ ____________________________ Being Born Again_______________ Is our only True Hope____________ ________________________ FaithfulToOne © 1999______ _________________________ _________________________ Psalm 25:5_________________ guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. ___________________________ Psalm 31:24 __________________ Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD. ___________________________ Psalm 33:2 __________________ May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you._______ ___________________________ Psalm 62:5 ___________________ Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. ____________________ ____________________________ Psalm 119:114 _________________ You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word. _________________ ___________________________ Psalm 130:5 __________________ I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope. _________________ ___________________________ Jeremiah 23:16 _______________ This is what the LORD Almighty says: "Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. ___________________________ Jeremiah 29:11________________ For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ___________________________ Lamentations 3:25 ____________ The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; _________ ___________________________ Romans 12:12 ________________ Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. _____________________ ___________________________ Romans 15:4_________________ For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. _______________________ ____________________________ Romans 15:13 _________________ May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.______ ____________________________ 1 Timothy 6:17_________________ Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.