The Good Ole Days

¹¹ Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. ¹² So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. ¹³ And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God. Ecclesiastes 3:11-13

We are going to visit Grandma next week and I am looking forward to it with joyful anticipation. She will be 89 in August and has lived alone without her husband for the last ten years.  When we visit or talk to her on the phone she is always very upbeat and positive. She has a sing-song tone in her voice, which is genuine and uplifting and reinforces my belief that your attitude toward life is directly proportionate to the length and quality of your life. 

She takes great delight and gets a sparkle in her eyes as she tells us story after story of the adventures in her life. Some, I am quite sure have been embellished to make the story more interesting, but I am grateful that she has the faculties to remember the good ole days!    

Today, Grandma still seeks simple pleasures for life. Planting flowers in her garden takes a lot more of her energy than it used to, but it keeps her moving and gives her such great pleasure to watch as they grow and flourish outside her window.     

24 This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.  Psalm 118:24 (NLT)

Patrick often reminds me that we are currently living the good ole days. He says, "these ARE the good ole days" and one day, Lord willing, we will look back, hopefully with pleasure and joy on the adventures of our lives, with very few regrets.  

In the moment we forget that embedded in the busy routine of life are special little moments where we have an opportunity to create simple memories to be stored away for another day when sitting quietly we will reflect back with yearning to be young again. We have a choice. What we do today and how we choose to live it will be our memories tomorrow.  How do you wish to remember life when you are 89? 

I pray that God fill you with peace and joy everyday and the ability to remember the good ole days when you are 89.  

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.   Henry David Thoreau