Saturday, January 8, 2011

The song of my life


Head, shoulders, knees and toes.....



That about sums it up. My whole body needs a jump start this morning. I've tried my two very large cups of coffee, going out into the cold at 6:30 this morning, actually that is very late because usually it is 5:00am (to take my son to swimming) and I have even done my stretches this morning. Nothing thus far has worked to make me not feel achy. I really am beginning to think it is old age.



I am 49 1/2. Is that old? It was old to me when I was 20 or even 30, but now I still think I am a spring chicken when I think about some people turning 100.



My husband shuffles to and from his side of the bed to the doorway when it is his turn to get up to take my son to practice in the morning. He literally shuffles. It sounds like he is cross country skiing. He could probably use a pole too to keep his balance, then we could make getting out of bed a true sport, kinda make it legit. There is so much on the floor of our bedroom we both stumble and fall. I'm not blaming the shuffling all on old age, a lot has to do with my inability to keep my room clean, either way, he shuffles. My bedroom is off limits to the neighbors eye because it embarrasses me terribly. Very messy. That is the one room where the door stays shut. No one allowed.



I never thought I would shuffle like my husband. I mean, he is older than me, right? He will always be older and he will always do the old thing first.



Well, I caught myself shuffling this morning. I'm thinking, what the heck, I'm not that old. Pick up those feet. March!!! We get lazy, we shuffle, we feel old, we look old, then we start to act old.



I have age on my brain for one reason only. We celebrated two birthdays at my house in the last 8 days. My husband turned 61. It was quite the dilemma for me to decide what I should get him for his birthday. We just had Christmas and I think I got him everything under the sun except his brand new sports car. He is very difficult to shop for and as he ages and it gets worse because if he needs something, he just goes out and gets it or he does without. He really does without most of the time. So I got him this card by my favorite cartoon character named "Maxine". I love Maxine!!! The card says (front cover) "You're tough to shop for." The inside cover reads "so I didn't". HE HE HE HE HE...... He loved the card and he belly giggled because he knows the dilemma that I am in each time it is his birthday or when it is Christmas. He can never think about what he wants or needs. Neither can I.



I bought my husband a chocolate cream pie, I don't like chocolate cream pies so I bought me a cheesecake. That makes sense right. I have to eat too. If I didn't eat his pie he would think I didn't want to celebrate with him. It only makes sense.... to me anyways...



We went and worked out, went for dinner and ate our dessert, then we shuffled to bed.



My daughters birthday was New Year's Eve. She turned 11. She doesn't shuffle. She has a whole different perspective about her birthday and her desires for gifts. She wants everything under the sun, and the cost of that gift, a whole years salary. She wants a grand party with all her friends. She has many friends. We celebrated quietly at home but she is waiting for her party. We keep trying to convince her that the whole world celebrated her birthday on New Year's Eve but she is getting wise beyond her years. I am planning a party today, that excuse isn't working anymore.



50 years apart, one shuffles and one skips. I sat last night on the sofa, in my old age daze, half asleep, half awake, at the prime time of 10:00 p.m. and watched my husband and daughter cuddled up together in the chaise lounge, neither dazed by their age difference. They both think they are young. I started thinking, I do that every now and then, you know think, so my thoughts were, is he (my husband) imparting his wisdom with her. After all, she loves him and thinks he knows all, so is she listening and learning the wisdom that he imparts? Is he listening to the wisdom that God imparts?



So, as I sat and watched the two of them, 50 years apart, I watched how God really has imparted wisdom to my husband and how he has shared this wisdom to my daughter, the next generation.



I believe the best gift for my husband on his birthday was the gift my child gave him by choosing to sit on his lap so he could could impart his wisdom and love. I believe when my daughter gets older and remembers her favorite presents it will not be the big party or all the many wrapped presents she receives, but it will be the gift of her daddy's wisdom and love and remembering those moments of just "chillin" with her dad in the chaise lounge or going out to get a coke.



What greater gift than being in our Father's arms.



Psalm 71:18 "Now that I am old and my hair is gray, do not abandon me, O God! Be with me while I proclaim your power and might to all generations to come."



Pick up those feet, march 2,3,4,....