Forty-three and Feeling It

This week began with a lot of fuss surrounding my 43rd birthday.  Mom visited to start the celebration with shopping and several delicious meals, both delightful luxuries for me.  Students and families showered me with gifts, cards, flowers, food and other delightful treats and encouraged me by their abundant loving kindness.  Having kicked off the birthday week on a high, it ended on a bummer low (literally), flat on my back.  For the first time, ever, I fell out of bed (yes, I did). The result felt a bit like I was in a car accident.

Typically, Thursday evening feels like the night before the last college final with all the intensity of the week and the anticipation of Friday and a restful weekend ahead.  With two working parents and three active daughters, sometimes our family gatherings happen at the most unusual times and places.  This event occurred in the dark in our bedroom with Mom, Dad and girls gathered on the bed.  I was sitting on the bed and decided to lay down on my side.  Little did I know how close I was to the edge as I fell 2+ feet to the floor and landed with "old lady moans and groans".  The family exploded with laughter as I assessed the damage.  A fall at age 43 lands between the flexible/bouncy body of a 5 year old and the life threatened body of an 80 year old.   With many prior bulging discs, including some flattening of the spinal cord, this was no small event! 

In addition to bodily injury, just this week, I've had multiple reminders of the joy of aging while entering the mid-forties.  I can't seem to get the hang of my bi-focals, so I tend to only wear them while driving.  Teacher friends have assisted me during faculty meetings with important details on the white board and corrected me as I wrongly identified the names of children across the hall from me.  During a recent Sunday worship service, the order of worship led me to design the perfect music for my memorial service.  You know you're getting old when the combination of hymns reminds you of your mortality and the glorious reality of entering eternity with the Lord.  On a lighter note, while birthday shopping in the Apple store, the sales person compared me to his grandmother as he encouraged my teen daughters to be patient with me as I learn the features of my new phone.  Sometimes I wonder if the combination of raising teenagers and teaching kindergarten will keep me young or if it will speed up the process of increasingly gray hair.  It certainly keeps me humble and in constant prayer for wisdom and strength!

Obviously, this update covers much silly news from the events of the week.  On a serious note, the forties also bring increased gratitude for long standing friendships and the many forms of communication which enable birthday greetings from all over the country.  For over 4 decades, God has used incredible friends and family to shape and form my life and to increase my love for him, his glory and his people.  Along with all of the physical reminders, I'm increasingly aware of my need for dependance upon the Lord for spiritual strength and wisdom.

"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from who every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he many grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith-- that you being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."  Ephesians 3:14-19