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stephanieshepherd 's review for:
Aging with Grace: Flourishing in an Anti-Aging Culture
by Susan Hunt, Sharon Betters
Aging with Grace by Sharon W. Betters and Susan Hunt was such a timely book for me and I'm so thankful to have started the new year off with this book. With the honest realization that I've got more years on the back end than I do on the front end, this book was such an encouragement in how to view the future as I desire to live my days for Christ. The authors' quote Tim Keller who says, "Our character and daily life are shaped by what we believe about our future." And I would add to that how we think that God can use us as our energetic younger years are starting to fade away. Obviously, there is still a lot going on in our home, but things are shifting as I no longer have babies, or even young elementary students anymore. The first one will graduated high school in about 18 months and I'm closer to an empty nest than a full one. How do I see myself in those years and my relationship with the Lord?
And, if 2020 has taught us nothing else, life is hard and it is going to stay that way no matter the date on the calendar. And as years pass, there will be even more sickness, relationship trouble, and dreams that don't pan out like I think they should. In those moments, how will I handle them? Will I be bitter and resent the circumstances of those years or trusting and abiding in the one walking through them with me? "We have all experienced some form of barrenness in our relationships and situations, those times where grief or disappointment cut a devastating swath of death through our lives. Those times are our opportunities to cling in hope to the promise that God can do the impossible and make our patched lives flourish." (p. 125-6) Only the Lord can sustain and even in those aging years. He does not forget his own.
"When a rope of many strands is used to pull a heavy load, the weight of the load stretches the strings, pulling them tighter together. The harder the job, the more tightly would the strings become. Wait is an action word. Isaiah explains that waiting with hope, a sometimes exhausting journey, means twisting, ourselves around the Lord and binding ourselves to him." (p. 117) Whether I am waiting for situations to resolve, for answered prayer, for renewed health for loved ones, or for Christ to return, I want to be like that rope, tightly wrapped around the Lord in those circumstances.
And, if 2020 has taught us nothing else, life is hard and it is going to stay that way no matter the date on the calendar. And as years pass, there will be even more sickness, relationship trouble, and dreams that don't pan out like I think they should. In those moments, how will I handle them? Will I be bitter and resent the circumstances of those years or trusting and abiding in the one walking through them with me? "We have all experienced some form of barrenness in our relationships and situations, those times where grief or disappointment cut a devastating swath of death through our lives. Those times are our opportunities to cling in hope to the promise that God can do the impossible and make our patched lives flourish." (p. 125-6) Only the Lord can sustain and even in those aging years. He does not forget his own.
"When a rope of many strands is used to pull a heavy load, the weight of the load stretches the strings, pulling them tighter together. The harder the job, the more tightly would the strings become. Wait is an action word. Isaiah explains that waiting with hope, a sometimes exhausting journey, means twisting, ourselves around the Lord and binding ourselves to him." (p. 117) Whether I am waiting for situations to resolve, for answered prayer, for renewed health for loved ones, or for Christ to return, I want to be like that rope, tightly wrapped around the Lord in those circumstances.