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Even if it is sagging.... Leona speaks

A chapter in one of my favorite books about women in midlife is entitled “Strut your stuff, even if it is sagging.” Of course the chapter is about accepting our bodies as they are… blah, blah blah.

Naturally I read it with half-hearted agreement.

But this week I found myself doomed to sagging. Yes, my insurance company rejected, denied, flat out said “no” to approving an upper eyelid blepharoplasty. Even though my eye doctor felt my sagging eyelids inhibits my vision, and the plastic surgeon submitted startling photos of my hooded eyes (without makeup!), the powers that be at Regence Blue Shield denied authorization.

I have to admit I’m disappointed. I had hoped that this simple surgery would lift my lids and reveal my sparkling blue eyes, rendering my true youthful inner being. My deepest desire was for people to quit telling me how tired I look!

So this morning I’m resigned to sagging. Guess I’ll go put on my make-up and make an effort to strut.

Pity the next person that tells me I look tired.

On giving up my rollerblades - Terry

As I recover from my knee surgery (all my resolve wasn't enough to heal meniscus tears on both sides of my knee), I have come to a sad conclusion. It is time to sell my rollerblades. I bought these fancy skates, and all the trimmings, when Ken was working in Duluth, Minnesota, and I needed to find a way to fill my days. I walked along the downtown waterfront trail in Duluth watching all the rollerbladers and I knew that I could do it. I had been an accomplished roller skater in the days of my youth, spending an entire summer camped near a roller rink in Montana, skating every night. The roller skating rink was considered an "in" place to be in those days. I had no worries about my ability to skate. Stopping was another matter, and I practiced my stops before I got very brave on the skates. But I was right -- it all came back to me and I loved skating.

Shortly after our return to life and work as we now know it, I was skating around the local lake. But at just about that time, an acquaintance about my age was mowed down by young kids while skating around that same lake. She had major injuries and a long recovery. I put my skates up on the shelf for awhile, just to think about it. In a nutshell, I got cold feet!

I realize that many people over the age of 60 are still very active in the sports of their youth, but what happened for me is that I couldn't help but weigh the costs. Skating was fun, but I wasn't really all that stable on the skates, and the threat of major trauma scared me a lot. It wasn't the pain or the recovery that worried me, but the possibility that I would not fully recover and give up some of the things that I hope to do for many more years -- like walk! I have not totally given up all activities -- I still bike in spite of a fall a couple of years ago that was quite nasty. Some things still feel worth the risk.

But I think the skates have got to go. Four months of not being able to take my beloved exercise walks have been hard on me, and hard on my exercise partner, Ken! We both are feeling lethargic and out of shape. We still have a lot of travel we'd like to do, and these things must all be weighed. I've kept the skates tucked away in a corner of our attic, just waiting.... It's time. This is one of the necessary losses of my own aging journey.

Heaven - Max Lucado

"My kingdom does not belong to this world." John 18:36

"Unhappiness on earth cultivates a hunger for heaven. By gracing us with a deep dissatisfaction, God holds our attention. The only tragedy, then, is to be satisfied prematurely. To settle for earth. To be content in a strange land....

"We are not happy here because we are not at home here. We are not happy here because we are not supposed to be happy here. We are 'like foreigners and strangers in this world' (1 Pet. 2:11).

"And you will never be completely happy on earth simply because you were not made for earth. Oh, you will have moments of joy. You will catch glimpses of light. You will know moments or even days of peace. But they simply do not compare with the happiness that lies ahead." Max Lucado, When God Whispers Your Name

Heaven is God’s Mystery - Leona speaks

At times of death and loss I often turn to Joni Erickson Tada’s devotional book entitled “Heaven, Your Real Home.” She has a most unique perspective on suffering and faith, loss and hope, earth and heaven.

I have a hard time reconciling the realities of death with heaven and what sometimes feels like fantasy thinking. So it helps to be reminded of the need for simple faith.

In her chapter, “Heaven is God’s Mystery,” she writes:

Heaven is your journey’s end, your life’s goal, your purpose for going on. You’re supposed to be eagerly awaiting it. But trying to grasp heaven without faith is like trying to admire the outside of a huge great cathedral with grand windows. Standing outside, you see an impressive but imposing structure. The building is striking, but has no real glory. But if you go inside the cathedral—which is a little like looking at heaven through eyes of faith—you are breathless as you stand washed in glorious colors from the light that streams through the window.

Faith takes us beyond the imposing and impressive language of golden cities and thrones, and reveals the better, brighter glory inside the walls of the New Jerusalem. Faith takes the descriptions of 24-karat asphalt and big pearls swinging on hinges and makes us certain that what we hope for is far, far better than here.

Joni Erickson Tada
Heaven: Your Real Home
Zondervan (1996)
Page 18

The weekend

We are committed to posting daily, Monday through Friday. Please catch up on our older posts and enjoy this 4th of July weekend.

The unbearable knowing - Terry

This is what youth must figure out:
Girls, love, and living.
The having, the not having,
The spending and giving,
And the melancholy time of not knowing.

This is what age must learn about:
The ABC of dying.
The going, yet not going,
The loving and leaving
And the unbearable knowing and knowing.

--E. B. White

Leona speaks....

A friend died today.

It’s all too common of an occurrence lately it seems.

My friend: once vibrant, once wild with dreams and ideas--suddenly taken out by the swift blow from an enemy too strong to stand against any longer.

I’m sad. I’m confused. I’m even a little frightened by the reality of human vulnerability. I’m perplexed by the normative Christian response that she is “better off now.” I suppose that is true, but I don’t think her little 2-year-old granddaughter who thought her grandma was perfectly happy playing with her here would agree.

Once Jesus stood at the tomb where his friend’s dead body lay. He cried. I don’t think he just shed the kind of tears that embarrass grown men. He shouted words that would overcome death for one man for one time. He wept because as a human he experienced what every human before and after him has felt: The sting of death. The wretched reality that one will never walk beside his loved one again on this earth. Ever. The desolate awareness that a power so strong exists that it can snuff out the very breath of life.

Lazarus’ friends told Jesus it stunk. I think he agreed. I sure do. Death stinks.

Lest it appear I have lost faith, I haven’t. In fact, death probably makes me re-evaluate exactly what it is that I believe.

I’m banking on the other words Jesus said while he was here. Like the ones where he promised an eternal Kingdom where He would reign and the enemy called death would be dashed. Forever.

With Age Wisdom - sequel #2 - Terry

With Age Wisdom

At twenty, stooping round about,
I thought the world a miserable place,
Truth a trick, faith in doubt,
Little beauty, less grace.

Now at sixty what I see,
Although the world is worse by far,
Stops my heart in ecstasy.
God, the wonders that there are!

Archibald MacLeish

When God Stirs Your Nest - Leona speaks

I have a friend is going through a very difficult transition. It seems as though their once-thriving business is all but defunct, the home mortgage is nearly impossible to pay, and their health is deteriorating under the stress. They are experiencing more loss than ever before in their married lives. Yet, some time ago they asked God to show them how to best serve Him. I thought of this article that a friend gave me 25 years ago when we felt that God was doing something to change our lives drastically. He did. We moved, started over. I’ve had to re-read it several more times in the last two decades because God has stirred the nest often!
I sent the article to my friend.