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Crows Have Landed
Luann Prater
"She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the
days to come."
Proverbs 31:25 (NIV)
Devotion:
I was
45 when it hit me. We were on vacation and the hotel had one of
those cool magnifying mirrors in the bathroom. Well, it was cool
until it showed the truth. It seems my "laugh lines" were running amuck
and creeping out of the sides of my eyelids.
"What
in the world!" I shouted. "How long have I had these trenches in my face?
And when were you going to tell me?" I yelped. My wise husband knew a
death trap when he saw it, "Honey, I love your eyes," he replied.
Now
that I've hit the fabulous fifties, they don't wait for a smile to show
themselves; no, the crow's feet have firmly landed and are forever etched
in my face. I knew it was obvious one day when a client who works for a
plastic surgeon told me she could get me a good deal, then she patted my
face.
No one
escapes the fact that we all age. One day we wake up and realize the
spring in our step has a bit of a squeak, gray hairs are sprouting in the
most bizarre places (like cascading from your chin), and everything that
was once perky has headed south. Of course this is the exact moment
I see a twenty-something bounce across the television screen and
everything in me wants to burrow beneath a blanket on the couch with a
warm chocolate chip cookie and pretend this will all go away.
Then I
hear my grandkids squeal and run into the room. It's time for
another round of "The Gramminator!" I roll to the floor and put on
my best Schwarzenegger voice and proclaim, "No one escapes the Gramminator!"
and the pouncing and wrestling begins.
It's at
these moments I realize how much I love being 50-something. The road
to get here was not easy; in fact, those lines in my face were earned.
Every gray hair represents a tough time of losing a loved one, stressing
over finances or crying over a wayward child. The main lesson I've
learned along the way is everything in life is temporary.
Deuteronomy 31:6 says, "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or
terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will
never leave you nor forsake you" (NIV). Whether I'm on the mountaintop or
in the valley, neither will last but He will always walk with me.
Today, I choose to laugh and let the lines dig in a little deeper because
this is the only day I am guaranteed. We are but dust, here today
and gone tomorrow. Besides, my grandson just gripped my face in his
sweet little hands and said, "Grandma, you're beautiful." His view is
better than the mirror. Come on, let's embrace this thing called age
together and laugh!
Application Steps:
Choose
to laugh today. Take every care and give God thanks and praise for already
taking care of it. Then find someone to laugh with.
Reflections:
What
causes me to frown?
When
will I see my age lines as triumphs?
How can
I rejoice and not be afraid?
Power Verses:
Joshua
1:5, "No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your
life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you
nor forsake you." (NIV)
Proverbs 16:31, "Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained by a
righteous life." (NIV)
Related Resources:
*Spend Saturday afternoons with Luann on the air at Encouragement Café
*Instill these truths in your
child with
The Tale of Three Trees retold
by Angela Elwell Hunt *Instill these truths in your tween with
The Divine Dance: If the World is Your Stage,
Who are You Performing For? by Shannon Kubiak Primicerio
*Instill these truths in your twenty-something with
Authentic Beauty: The Shaping of a Set-apart
Young Woman by Leslie Ludy *Instill these truths in
your heart with
Broken into Beautiful: How God Restores the
Wounded Heart by Gwen Smith
Proverbs 31 Ministries
616-G Matthews-Mint Hill Road
Matthews, NC 28105
www.proverbs31.org |