It's That Time: Aging Gracefully

"There is an appointed time for everything,
and a time for every affair under the heavens.
A time to give birth, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant."
- Ecclesiastes 3:1-2

My husband and I just recently sold our home. We wanted to move closer to work and church. Instead of buying, we are now renting a furnished place and brought only a few pieces of furniture with us.

My spiritual director has often told me that we spend the first part of our lives trying to accumulate things and the last part of our lives letting go of them.

It's that time for us. Time to let go. Time to simplify.

I will soon be sixty. That fact does not bother me at all. In fact, I'm really looking forward to it. I find the whole idea of it quite intriguing.

And, I wonder, how will I feel when I look in the mirror at a sixty-year-old me?

The gray hair won't bother me. My hair has been gray for years. My joints already swell and hurt because of my rheumatoid arthritis. I have worn trifocals for over 10 years. I already forget people's names.

The thing is, my body may feel like it's time but my mind doesn't believe it. I still daydream just like I did when I was a little girl. I still read books by the dozen. I can spend hours in the bookstore or the library. I love roses and writing and going to church.

And no one - absolutely no one - can make me laugh, even giggle, like my husband can.

It's funny how life happens. I do not feel like a sixty-year-old. I feel like I am in my twenties. I feel like I felt when I met my husband. I feel like I have a whole life ahead of me.

It didn’t take long to get here. The years have gone by so fast. One day I am twenty-one and the next day I am sixty.

Still, there is no sadness. No fear. I just look at my life and I wonder, what will God look like when I gaze upon His face?

Recently our youngest son told us his good news. He and his wife have just bought their first house. They are so excited. They are going to need to buy new things for their new home.

It's that time for them. Time to build a life. Time to make a home.

It's that time.

What do you think it means to "age gracefully"? What do you think heaven is like?

Copyright 2014, Colleen Spiro