A Branch In the Vine

Yes, that's me...and it's all about one word...GRACE, God's miraculous and matchless GRACE. So on this my 65th birthday, I want to praise the Name of the HOLY ONE...for saving every day and sanctifying every day... this needy, but Christ-filled daughter of His!

This is my song! Every line has been my life...and I praise Him that...

He who began a good work in [me] will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. Phil 1:6

Grace and Nothing More!

I thought while on this voyage long My strength God would increase And at some point along the way My struggling would cease I fought with boldness, wind and wave And yet the skirmish lost Exhausted, all provision gone The channel still uncrossed As lifeless I in stillness drift Just strength enough to pray It's only then I feel the surge That speeds me on my way

By His own hand and faithfulness He steers me toward a distant shore And the wind that billows in the sail Is grace and nothing more Yes, it's grace and nothing more

I seek the bloom of holiness He leads me deep within Reveals the hardness of my heart Unearths my hidden sin My barren soul groans in despair In brokenness I cry Oh, God, I find no hope in me A smile His sweet reply For where the tears of brokenness Have soaked the fallow ground The tender shoots of holiness Now spring up all around

Strength in my weakness Joy through the pain Hope when I'm helpless Loss my greatest gain

By His own hand and faithfulness He steers me toward a distant shore And the wind that billows in the sail Is grace and nothing more Yes, it's grace and nothing more

CHRIST IN ME, the hope of glory! Colossians 1:27

You heard it first here, people...or maybe not! This year the class of '65...the beginning of the Baby Boomers...the "American Dream" era...is turning 65! And that's me! Even though 65 is the new 55... when you go on Medicare, I'm sorry, 65 is 65!

But I'm not bitter...truly! I've lived nicely in "La, La Land" thanks to my sweet, care-giving husband who takes care of all our business and finances. But now I have decisions to make because I'm turning 65 a year and a half before him! I need to make my medicare choices in the next few months before my birthday!

It's not that "aging" hasn't stared me in the mirror for years...it has. Years ago, I remember my mother-in-law telling me how she marveled as she looked in the mirror, "Who's that old lady staring back at me?"

Even though my mom tries to add some perspective, "Why are you telling your age...you're just a KID!" Keep in mind that she's 87!

In some ways, aging has sneaked up on me...

But I'm the same high school girl who got crushes, the same college girl who fell in love with "the Man" [click here to see him and read about our 40th anniversary];

the same young woman who was walked down the aisle by her Daddy;

the same young mother who gave birth first to a beloved son and then to a darling daughter;

the same woman who raised them, nursed them, educated them, agonized over them, and then launched them

into their own adult lives...to fall in love with their own "Loves" and have their own babies.

And I'm still that same woman staring back at me in the mirror...praising God (not without a few tears) for those years and for time I still have with "the Man" [click here to see how I almost lost him].

The question is "Can I age with grace and spiritual beauty grounded in the LORD and His love"...even if I've become "invisible" to the "youth & beauty" worshiping culture around me?

I love and hold to the beautiful promise (and prediction) the LORD gives his aging children in Psalm 92:12-15 [note: I've made the reference specifically female, though it could be either] --

The righteous woman will flourish like a palm tree,
She will grow like a cedar of Lebanon
Planted in the house of the Lord,
She will flourish in the courts of our God.
She will still yield fruit in old age;
She shall be full of sap and very green
To declare the Lord is upright;
He is my Rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him!

My heart's desire is to continue to declare Him to be my all-sufficient Rock through my words and deeds as long as the Lord gives me life and breath on this earth.

LORD Jesus, may it be so through the power of your Indwelling Life. Amen!

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This is just for fun...while I'm still 64...until June 16, 2012:)

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