I Haven't Been Here Before

When you hear those words " I haven't been here before" you usually think geographically.

When I think of them, I think age.

You haven't been here before, because you have not been this old before and you will never be this young again. At least chronologically. You may act young, but not be young. You are as young as you feel. Um, nobody wants to be that old. As you age your body cannot do what it did ten years ago. Oh, you may still be able to bend and walk and jump and run, but trust me, it is not nearly as pretty as it once was.

Your memory is different. Everyone forgets stuff and appointments, but when you are below 40 everyone says, " Aw, you just have a lot on your mind", at 60 they are ready to get the Alzheimer drugs for you. Really, it is the same kind of stuff at 60 as at 40, just too much on your mind. At 40 it may be the kids ballgames, your work agenda, your spouse, and your dog. At 60 it may be the grand kids ballgames, their work agenda and their spouse. They don't have time for a dog, so you get the dog and it's stuff. But it is still just stuff.

Your body is different. It now has gray hair, and probably less of it, aches and pains that were just a nuisance are now a challenge. You learn to ignore them and go on, or you see the doctor and get pills to help. Then you get to deal with the side affects.

Getting older is not necessarily fun, but you can have fun dealing with the newness of it. And creative. How many of you under the age of 40 know six ways of getting something out of your reach?  I do. Depending on whether it is high or low. If high, get a stool, with rails, use your pick up utensil, whether a rod, tongs or a long-handled spoon, reach high and stretch. On the low side, hands and knees, which takes longer than getting in the car and go buy a new one, reach with utensil, or call your spouse to get it for you.

All of this is to say, that we adjust to what God gives us to do and do it as well as we can.

Enjoy your age.  Until, next time.

Personal Relationship

I have thought about this subject a long time. I haven't done anything about it other that to think it through.

We have three children and only one of them has a personal relationship with us.

What does that mean? It means that she calls when she needs something, whether it is an actual something or just to vent. It means that she says she loves us whenever we talk, whether it is long or short. It means she counts on us to do what we say we will do.

The other two children, adults, now, will talk to us if we contact them and there is no personal relationship. They do not tell us about their day. If we ask they will share mundane, vague references about family and jobs and what they are doing.

We have seven grandchildren. We have a personal relationship with one. She is not an adult, yet, but still she will call and tell us she is eating our favorite Toaster Strudel flavor and giggle, because she is eating it and wecan't, because she is two hours away. She may save us one, or not, but she thinks it is funny to call and say she is eating it. It is.

If we contact our other grandchildren they will talk to us. But never call. We don't have a hateful relationship with any of these people. We just don't have a personal relationship with them.

This all comes back to my original thoughts on personal relationships with God. As a Lutheran, we don't really talk much about a personal relationship with God. Our relationship starts with baptism, which we do at birth or shortly after, and, yes, we baptise adults, and is put on a " personal" level at confirmation, when we re-afirm our vows made for us at baptism. Usually, after that you may see us in church once a month. That is personal enough for a lot of people. We show up at Christmas( His birthday) and Easter ( His feeling better day), just as our children show up for our birthdays and anniversaries. So, maybe I was a little optimistic on the once a month.

If God talks to us we accept the call and give him mundane answers to questions and say we love him and hang up.

Then something terrible happens and we shoot him a 911 call, and he answers. We say " thank you" and go on about our business.

Those of us who come to a personal relationship with God talk to him all the time. Whether you want to call that prayer or conversation, I leave to you. Personal relationship with God doesn't depend on how you got there: whether by baby baptism, confirmation, or adult belief after trying all the sins to the hilt. It depends on YOU talking to HIM and sharing all your cares, joys and sorrows. He is there for you whether it is a personal relationship or a passing one. Just cast all your cares on him.

Remember that personal relationships are, well, personal. You do not need to shout from the roof tops, just smile, giggle and cry with Him in your heart, home and soul.