Recognizing the abundance in my abundance of years

The experience of teaching an online course consisting mainly of students who are younger than my youngest child has me feeling my years. It’s a tough pill to swallow recognizing that it’s not just that I could be my students’ mother. I could be their grandmother (granted, a VERY young Nana).

Just as I’m about to settle in for a pity party (with candles), along comes an  upbeat reminder from seminary prof and woman of a certain age, Sue Edwards. Her message: “There’s a lot of life left after age 60. Make the most of it.”

You can read Sue’s article for yourself at Weekly reFill. But until you get there, here’s what spoke to my spirit:

I commonly complain to younger women about the downside of “maturity”, leaving a negative impression. I need to stop for their sake and mine. I tend to think of ministry years left, forgetting that Goethe finished Faust, Michelangelo completed the dome of St Peter’s, and Cervantes wrote Don Quixote long after their 65th birthday. If we practice self-care now and later, most of us will be productive far into the golden years. I commit to stop worrying about being alone or sidelined, and adopt a positive mindset.

In other words, it’s time to stop sulking when the clerk at Radio Shack calls me “Ma’am” or the server at my favorite restaurant hands me the senior menu. It’s time to recognize the abundance in my abundance of years. It’s time to celebrate what God has done, is doing, and will continue to do with my life, until the day God calls me home.

Party, anyone?

P.S. I encourage you to subscribe to Weekly reFill and the companion e-magazine, FulFill. They’re a ministry of my friend, Elisa Morgan — another Nana on the go who God is using in amazing ways.