They
will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green.
- Psalm 92:14 (NIV)
Birthdays have changed a lot over the years.
I can't remember if it was my fifth or sixth birthday, but I remember having a party one afternoon with six or eight neighborhood kids. One of the guests suggested we make a "birthday bridge." Everyone paired up, raised their hands like the old London Bridge game, and I was supposed to run underneath while each person gave me a birthday spanking as I passed.
It sounded like a fun idea...until one enthusiastic guest missed my bottom entirely and landed a hard smack across my back! Needless to say, that was the end of birthday parties for quite a few years, and I've never really embraced the tradition of birthday spankings since.
When we're children, birthdays are all about the presents. I still have to be gently reminded by my husband not to go overboard buying gifts for our grandbabies. He's probably right when he says they won't remember exactly what they received a year from now—but I sure enjoy trying to make their birthdays special.
As we grow older, birthdays become milestones. Double digits at ten. A teenager at thirteen. A driver's license at sixteen. The right to vote at eighteen. Full-fledged adulthood at twenty-one. Every birthday seems to mark another step toward growing up.
Then, somewhere along the way, birthdays quietly change again.
They become less about what we're given and more about what we've been blessed with. Family gathered around the table. Friends who have walked beside us through every season. A home filled with love. Meaningful work. Memories that no gift could ever replace. And yes...even that little crystal cat your friend from Accounting gave you years ago somehow becomes part of the story.
I remember thinking turning thirty was the end of the world. Looking back now, I can't help but smile. Forty wasn't nearly as bad, fifty came and went, and with each passing year I've discovered something surprising: I've learned more in these recent years than I ever imagined I would.
Psalm 92 reminds us that God's people "will still bear fruit in old age." What a beautiful promise. God doesn't retire us from His purpose. He continues to grow us, teach us, and use us to encourage others. Our age doesn't determine our usefulness—our willingness does.
God isn't finished writing my story, and He isn't finished writing yours either. Every new day is another opportunity to encourage someone, offer a kind word, share a smile, or remind another person that they are loved. Our greatest impact may not be behind us at all.
Now, don't get me wrong...there are definitely mornings when I feel my age. My back has its own opinion about getting out of bed, and sometimes it voices that opinion rather loudly. But as my husband likes to remind me, "You may get older, but you refuse to grow up."
He's absolutely right.
Now...where are all the cats?
#dailybreadbykitty
Daily Inspiration from the Bible
- Psalm 92:14 (NIV)
I can't remember if it was my fifth or sixth birthday, but I remember having a party one afternoon with six or eight neighborhood kids. One of the guests suggested we make a "birthday bridge." Everyone paired up, raised their hands like the old London Bridge game, and I was supposed to run underneath while each person gave me a birthday spanking as I passed.
It sounded like a fun idea...until one enthusiastic guest missed my bottom entirely and landed a hard smack across my back! Needless to say, that was the end of birthday parties for quite a few years, and I've never really embraced the tradition of birthday spankings since.
When we're children, birthdays are all about the presents. I still have to be gently reminded by my husband not to go overboard buying gifts for our grandbabies. He's probably right when he says they won't remember exactly what they received a year from now—but I sure enjoy trying to make their birthdays special.
As we grow older, birthdays become milestones. Double digits at ten. A teenager at thirteen. A driver's license at sixteen. The right to vote at eighteen. Full-fledged adulthood at twenty-one. Every birthday seems to mark another step toward growing up.
Then, somewhere along the way, birthdays quietly change again.
They become less about what we're given and more about what we've been blessed with. Family gathered around the table. Friends who have walked beside us through every season. A home filled with love. Meaningful work. Memories that no gift could ever replace. And yes...even that little crystal cat your friend from Accounting gave you years ago somehow becomes part of the story.
I remember thinking turning thirty was the end of the world. Looking back now, I can't help but smile. Forty wasn't nearly as bad, fifty came and went, and with each passing year I've discovered something surprising: I've learned more in these recent years than I ever imagined I would.
Psalm 92 reminds us that God's people "will still bear fruit in old age." What a beautiful promise. God doesn't retire us from His purpose. He continues to grow us, teach us, and use us to encourage others. Our age doesn't determine our usefulness—our willingness does.
God isn't finished writing my story, and He isn't finished writing yours either. Every new day is another opportunity to encourage someone, offer a kind word, share a smile, or remind another person that they are loved. Our greatest impact may not be behind us at all.
Now, don't get me wrong...there are definitely mornings when I feel my age. My back has its own opinion about getting out of bed, and sometimes it voices that opinion rather loudly. But as my husband likes to remind me, "You may get older, but you refuse to grow up."
He's absolutely right.
Now...where are all the cats?
Daily Inspiration from the Bible
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