Part 1: Learning to Cope With Being OLD

 

Thanks for sharing this journey into aging. Let's begin by saying, "Old and age are not four-letter words." (Repeat that four times.)

 

If anything in this post makes you smile, excellent! (Yes, one corner-up counts.) Notice that people who reach very old age often laugh lot. That’s the Preface in adjusting to the idea of being elderly, but there’s more to learn. Much more….

Prepare to Be Slow

If you’re used to moving along at a clip or turning sharply on the proverbial dime, stop! Your typical adult-life pace will eventually topple you over or blow a spinal disc or throw your knees out or all of the above.

Expect to Be Clumsy, well, sometimes

Get a thermos-like bottle with a fold-up-and-down thingy to sip through. Take this with you wherever you go, even if you think you’re sitting safely, watching TV with a snack. Otherwise, when you grab the remote to change that terrible show you never meant to watch, the chances of knocking over a drink increase with each year-alive. If you’re super tired, careless, or a natural klutz, those odds double. No judgment, just an observation (or expectation.)

 

Curb Your Pride and Buy a Cane if You’re Apt to Be Tipsy (unless you had too much to drink, and then it won’t hold you up but might tempt you to whack somebody.)

If you’re having balance issues, get a cane with four-toes for steadiness. If yours didn’t come with that feature, measure the cane's diameter and order one online. Better yet, buy a more sure-footed cane in your favorite color.

 

Find a Hobby You Enjoy that Requires Movement

No, playing Bridge to exercise your wrists doesn’t count. Remember, all activities aren’t rivalries. But don’t be surprised if someone older than you beats you at pickle-ball.

 

If You Need Help, Ask

Face it. Getting old is no time to be full of yourself. Pride, at this stage, is even more likely to go before a fall. If you’ve always been the person who likes to help others, move over! Give someone else a chance to feel good about helping.

 

Expect Sleep Patterns to Change

Besides getting up a dozen times a night to head to the head, you might find worries, schedules, or memories flooding in, right when you wanted to forget everything and go to sleep. (As an expert on the subject, I’m writing this at 5 a.m. after an hour or two of naps.) Pain often keeps us awake too. And so does too much stimulation too late, so end your evening with something boring.

 

Stop Saving Pretty Much Anything for a Special Occasion

Being God’s child is special, and so is being alive! If you have something nice, enjoy it. Use that sterling silver flatware you're prepared to polish. Wear that pricey silk tie you bought on a whim. Toss your grandmother’s hand-embroidered cloth over the table and don’t serve anything that stains.

 

Scale Down

Ask your kids, grands, and other relatives (in that order) if there’s something of yours they would enjoy having. Otherwise, if you don’t need it, don’t use it, or don’t like it, give it away.  In our one-stoplight town, three churches have secondhand shops with other charitable organizations close enough to haul stuff. 

 

Take Care of Your Eyes

Aging eyes often need cataract surgery, which is not a big deal for most people (unless you’re a big crybaby) but shouldn’t be done too soon or too late. i.e., Too soon increases the likelihood of having to do it again. Too late creates a gummy-bear film. Just right can usually be determined if you glance at a light and see a blue ring – not to be confused with the blue light special.

 

Take Care of All Body Parts, Seen or Unseen

Keep up checkups with your dentist, doctor, and shoe salesperson. Yes, feet do change sizes, especially if your weight goes up or down. If you feel like Big-Foot and someone dares to ask your size, simply lie if you still care more about what other people think than who you or they truly are.

 

Care More and More What God Thinks

Read the Bible in several translations. (No, King James will not be mad, but I don’t know about Shakespeare.) Follow online devotionals. Buy devotional books to read every morning or evening or both. Keep instrumental Christian hymns playing throughout the day. (I found many on You-Tube. My favorites include the lyrics, so I can sing along without resorting to La-La-La.)

 

Pray 

Pray for your family. Pray for your church and all of God’s people around the world. (Okay. Be inclusive. Pray for anyone and everyone you really, really, really do not like.) 

Speak God’s promises over the news. Pray for leaders everywhere. Pray WITH people who need immediate prayer even if they happen to be in the next stall of a public restroom. 

Pray for yourself. Pray, pray, pray for God to guide and strengthen you. Pray to see God’s view and express your forever joy in Jesus’ Name.

 

Mary Sayler

P.S. Part 2 might look more serious. Regardless, if you have a tip to share or question to ask, please do in the Comment below. Thanks and blessings.

 

 

Highly Creative Insomniacs

One of the characteristics of very creative people involves thinking outside the line, the circle, and, yes, okay, the box. These men and women typically include writers, poets, scientists, composers, philosophers, artisans, and gifted children, especially those with empathy or sensitivity to others.

Often, these gifts overlap, for example, a poet might also write, create music, or paint. Or a data processing engineer might find amazing ways to connect numerical digits and produce something that categorizes information and provides solutions to problems. Then, in his spare time, he might doodle, make swirly colored bars of natural soap, or invent a new recipe for bread.

On particularly active days, creatively speaking, trouble comes when those ingenious ideas don’t acknowledge bed-time, as if the imaginative mind has no off switch. Other creatives all over the world experience this frustration, too, so, Lord willing, some will respond with helpful ideas in the Comments section below. Meanwhile,

• Don’t get mad at yourself for being awake, even though you’re tired! 
• Do a few stretching exercises.
• Make a list of ideas that won’t hush to expound on at a more appropriate time.
• Listen to some relaxing instrumental hymns or calming prayers.
• Ask God for the prayers to pray. Then use the time to pray whatever He brings to your mind.
• Thank God for giving you the gift of creativity even though insomnia accompanied the gift.
• If you’ve done all the above and can’t let go of a new idea, get up and go with it. Let it flow until empty.
• Ask God to give you the rest you need, even if sleep only comes for a couple of hours.

 

May the Lord guide, bless, and provide you with the rest and everything else you need in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

 

Mary Harwell Sayler

 

Chosen to Write

 

Do you ever feel inspired by God? Do you feel as though you can’t not write? Do you believe your writing is meant to encourage Christians in their faith, bring readers to the Lord, glorify God, and/or somehow have a godly influence on others?

Re-reading Isaiah this week brought to my attention chapter 61 as an excellent guideline for Christian poets and writers, especially those of us who aren’t sure what to write or where our writing lives are going.

“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me for the LORD has anointed me: to bring good news to the humble, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim release to captives and freedom to prisoners,” Isaiah 61:1.

First, we’re given assurance of our calling. If we’re unsure of that anointing, we can ask the Lord right now to fill, guide, and empower us with His Holy Spirit.

“to bring good news to the humble….”

With God’s help, we have a sense of purpose as we reach out to readers, bringing Good News of the salvation offered to all who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. This might be a time to write our own testimony or give witness to someone we know whose life turned around once introduced to Christ. Studying the Gospels (good news) shows many examples of ways the Lord interacted with people who were open to His word.

“to heal the brokenhearted….”

Biblical comfort and healing words in our writings will surely soothe those who feel heartsick, broken, or wounded. The Psalms and other uplifting poetry in the Bible give excellent illustrations as poets express anguish, fear, or lament then end on a reminder of the Lord’s great love.

“to proclaim release to captives….”

Proclaiming God’s forgiveness of past mistakes and poor choices can help release readers who are about to give up or have already lost hope. The power of God’s forgiveness frees those who feel stuck in the past or imprisoned by guilt or negative thinking.

“freedom to prisoners….”

What other “prisons” do people find themselves in? Are they weighed down by debt, disappointment, addictions, problems in relationships, grief, or something else – something you can relate to or have personally experienced? As you consider your unique calling, ask God to guide your thoughts and inspire your words in Jesus’ Name.

 

Mary Sayler

 

 

 

Announcing Good New to All Nations

 

After His resurrection, Jesus appeared to His disciples and said, “Go into all the world and proclaim the Good News to every creature,” Mark 16:15. Apparently, Saint Fracis of Assisi took that command to preach to birds, animals, and all creatures, who, as rumor has it, were on their best behavior when he spoke to them.

Most of us are more apt to announce the Gospel (Good News) to people of every nation – a calling no longer confined to the work of missionaries. Thanks to God and the Internet, our biblically-sound writings, devotions, sermons, and inspirational poems can reach each corner or curve of the earth. The Lord Himself, of course, led the way.

As Acts 2 tells us in the King James Version of the Bible:

2 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

² And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

³ And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.

⁴ And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

⁵ And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.

⁶ Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.

⁷ And they were all amazed and marveled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?

⁸ And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?

⁹ Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,

¹⁰ Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,

¹¹ Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.

 

 

from the FreeBibleImages website 

Because of the Jewish feast of Pentecost, people from all over the known world had gathered in Jerusalem, where the Holy Spirit fell upon them, thereby giving us the Christian celebration of Pentecost.

God knew that gathering would occur, making the perfect occasion to reverse the confused languages of Babel and giving everyone ear to hear in their own language! Since that made me curious about the location of the nations mentioned in Acts 2:9-11, a little online research produced this information found on the BibleHub website:

Acts 2:9

The Parthians, know for their power, lived in what is now known as northeastern Iran.

The Medies, an ancient people, lived in Media, part of today’s Iran.

The Elamites dwelled in the southwestern part of present-day Iran.

The people of Mesopotamia lived between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the area often known as the “cradle of civilization.”

Judea, a region of the Roman Empire, is in the Middle East.

Cappadocia, Pontus, and Asia are in what is now known as Turkey.

Acts 2:10

Phrygia and Pamphylia, also in present-day Turkey, have been known for their diverse cultures, which helped to spread early Christianity.

Egypt has frequently held a prominent place in Bible history.

Libya in North Africa, includes Cyrene, the place which gave us Simon who carried the cross for Jesus,

Rome, at the time of Pentecost, was the heart of the Roman Empire.

Acts 2:11

Cretans lived on the island of Crete in the Mediterranean Sea.

Arabs came from the Arabian Peninsula.

On this amazing day, people of all ages and ethnicity heard the Good News of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, ushering in diversity from the very beginning of Christianity. With each person hearing about Christ in their own language and frame of reference, the Bible sets a precedent for us to recall today as we become aware of peoples whose ways of worship show diversity too. May God continue to help us understand, love, and respect one another in Jesus’ Name.

 

Mary Harwell Sayler