When I was young, I always looked forward to October. It is my birthday month, and boy, did I want to grow up fast. (As a side note, I was always told that I would wish I was a child once I was grown. Thankfully, this didn’t turn out to be true. I much prefer being an adult!)
Anyhow, once I reached the age of about twenty-five, I found myself really disliking the thought of aging. I wanted to stay a young adult. Didn’t everyone? I’ve heard many dear sisters say, “Well, I’m turning 29 for the (fill in the blank) time.” Nobody seemed to actually embrace growing older!
As providence would have it, the years have passed, and I’ve kept on aging. How terrible! I’ve even found a few gray hairs on my head over the past few years. Of course, I was quick to color them and then to forget about their existence for at least a few weeks.
As my birthday has neared this year, I’ve decided that it was time to make a change. Growing older isn’t something I should fight against. I don’t want to cringe when I think that I’m pushing forty. I want to love every bit of the life the Lord has given me, and that includes growing older.
Throughout scripture, we see that being young is equated with foolishness, and being old is equated with wisdom. Gray hair is considered a crown of glory! I do not want to be a fool. I want to wise in God’s ways. I hope that God uses my husband and myself to create a legacy of wisdom in our family.
And so this year, I am happy to grow older. I’m glad to be thirty-seven. I hope to be glad and grateful for each day the Lord gives me. After all, each day is a gift from Him.
I’ve also stopped coloring my hair. If the Bible says that gray hair is a crown of glory, I believe it. This is how God has made me, and it is proof that I am wiser than I once was.
Ladies, I would love to encourage you to embrace your life season as a gift from above. How good God is to have given us this day. I hope to always embrace my aging body, and to see it as proof of God’s grace. To see it as proof of growing wisdom.
To the older women…this is when the Lord is most likely to use you to teach those younger than you. What an honor, and a privilege that is.
A gray head is a crown of glory; It is found in the way of righteousness.
Proverbs 16:31
Thank you so much for stopping by! I would love to connect with you on Facebook. I’d also like to invite you to my Mary & Martha Facebook Page, and to my Mary & Martha website. It is a such a blessing to serve you!
We need to cherish our days. All of them!
Hello Helene, thank you so much for stopping by!
Oh Nicole, you tickled me when you said you were 37! I remember thinking I was getting old back then. Now I’m 52, going through treatment for breast cancer, and I do feel old. ~smile~ I hope you enjoy your life every day, and remember. We are all young if we have salvation through Jesus Christ, because we’re going to live forever!
Be blessed,
Laura of Harvest Lane Cottage
Hello Laura, first of all, you are in my prayers! Perspectives do change, don’t they? I’m just thankful I’m no longer clinging to 25.😊
I thought you would have some wise perspective on growing older…..but lol, I am 75 and still don’t want to be old. But, I am thankful for every day of life on this earth. So many don’t have enough days, in my estimation. Hope you are happy now…….and enjoy your life, however long it may be and however old you become! Old is good!
Yes, it is so good to be thankful.😊 Thank you for stopping by, Helen!
Saw this on the Homestead Hop Link Party. Honestly, when I opened up this post and saw your picture, I thought, how in the world does she know what it’s like to grow older. I was wrong. Your sweet words are a great reminder of God’s grace. Loved reading this.
Thank you Cindy!
I clicked on your post from Arabah Joy’s link party because of the title. At 62, I’ll tell you your advice for younger women is excellent. Growing older has many advantages…I’d never go back!
I’m learning that more and more. Each year I’m taught new lessons, and I wouldn’t go back for anything! Thanks so much for your insight!
This is such a great reminder to have a Biblical perspective on aging! Thank you so much for linking this up at Mommy Moments last week. It was the top viewed link and will be featured in the link up this week. Congrats!
Thank you, Faith!
Love this, Nicole! You are so spot on. It bothers me no end to see women clinging frantically to youth as if it was a horrible shame to grow older. It’s not. One of the first things I did when I started dating my husband was to convince him to stop dying his hair, based on the very verse you mentioned. This past weekend, he turned 50, and I was so disappointed in some of the cards he got – the “50 is the new 30” and “you don’t look a bit older.” Growing older is nothing to be ashamed of for the Christian, and we ought to embrace it and live it with grace and dignity, not with desperately trying to look and act younger. I love older women and grandmothers, but older women trying to act like 20-somethings…. oh, my. All of the loveliness that can come with age is totally missing when we do that.
By the way, you and I are only a few months apart, age-wise! Happy Birthday! 🙂
Hi Diana! I totally agree.😊 Growing older should be considered a privilege and a blessing. Our culture is backwards in so many ways. Happy Birthday to your husband, and thank you so much for the birthday wishes. Fifty is a great age!
Yes! Thanks for fighting against the typical view of growing older. There is such freedom in viewing differently. No more obsession over the changing outward appearance in a negative light but a gratefulness over what time and maturity has brought through God’s grace. Thanks for sharing your insight!
Thank you so much for your kind words, Gretchen!
Just the other day I mentioned to an acquaintance that I would not want to be 20 again! I am 43 and I LOVE it! I am enjoying the age of my kids (16, 14, 11). I love that my hubby and I can leave them at home and go out on a date. Thanks for sharing on Grace and Truth.
Thanks for sharing, Aimee!