PSA: Getting older doesn’t have to be scary. I’m approaching my 36th birthday in two days (on a Friday! Isn’t that the best?) and feeling pretty dang good about it. Unlike last year, there’s a distinct lack of low level internal turmoil.
Instead, it feels a bit like riding on the back of a motorcycle- the sun on my face, the breeze in my hair. I have a good sense of where we are going, but I’m also not The One driving/controlling/determining the way forward (it feels a little unnatural at times, but it’s totally freeing.) The thing is, if you trust The One who’s driving, then the ride actually becomes that much more enjoyable. I’m resting a little more. My eyes are filing up with the scenery and my heart is calm. When fear tries to rise up and steal the moment, I just hold on tighter. The deeper question here is this- has the Lord ever abandoned me before? Left me on the side of the road to save myself? And just as clear- no.
Therefore, The One who has my heart is trustworthy to take the lead. To take me on the ride of my life.
All of the stuff that the world wants to sell us, wants to convince me that I need, usually amounts to fear-mongering. Getting a gray hair here or a wrinkle there? YOU MUST FIX IT or you’ll be less desirable! Not where you thought you’d be in your career by now? Not even sure what that “career” is? YOU HAVE TO ACHIEVE and succeed and be able to answer that infamous so what do you do question in 5 seconds flat! Maybe your relationships are more complicated than you expected them to be…THEN THERE MUST BE SOMETHING WRONG or you’ll never be loved!
From where I’m standing, this is all garbage.
Approaching thirty-six means that I can, at the very least, say that we are always in progress. We are in-progress kind of people! God knows this and he’s provided ample grace for our growth and an active helper in the Holy Spirit to get us going in the direction where He wants us headed. Our response is simply to surrender. To be available. To relax a little. To receive his love.
And I’m finding that the more I actually do this- just surrender to the ride– the more excited I am for where we are going. Where are we going, God?
This whole getting-older thing isn’t meant to be scary. It’s meant to wake us up to our own life! To remind us of our own finite-ness and also of God’s unlimited ability to do what He wills with what we offer. Our hands, our minds, our resources, our hearts. Who cares about a little cellulite when the eternal and living God is communing with me everyday??
I want more of that, please! Thirty-six is looking pretty good.
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