“Even when you are old, I will be the same.  Even when your hair has turned gray, I will take care of you.  I made you and will take care of you.  I will carry you and save you.”  Isaiah 46:4 This predicament I seem to be in has been on my mind for a few years now.  When your parents have died, and all your aunts and uncles have joined them, you realize how frail life can be. Then the ravages of time start catching up with YOU…it seems that Miss Clairol and Max Factor have become two of your best friends!  You dye your hair now because you have to…not because you want a ‘new’ look!  You try to cover up the new wrinkles that appear every day.  You realize your youth has faded.  What’s that old song…”The Old Gray Mare, she ain’t what she used to be….?  Growing old can be frightening, to say the least! The “Golden Years” aren’t all they’re cracked up to be!  Oh yes, age has its perks…senior discounts, experience, wisdom… But the body fails, and you are no longer able to do what you did before.  Your mind, on the other hand, tends to forget that from time to time; you need something in a bottom cupboard, and without thinking, go to your knees…very slowly, I might add.  Then, you find what you were searching for, and start to rise, but it takes longer than you thought it would, and tends to be quite painful! That’s when you remember…you aren’t 20 anymore!…Or even 30, 40, or 50.  YIKES!  Where did time go?  I remember when I thought I would never reach the age of 30…and now, here I am, pushing 70. Some people give up at this stage of the game.  Their health has waned…their minds seem to wander at times, and when their mind does work well…their body can’t keep up; so they quit and give in to the inevitable. But this is where we need to step up our game!  (I’m preaching to myself…) In his book, He Still Moves Stones, Max Lucado says:  “Your last chapters can be your best.  Your final song can be your greatest.  It could be that all of your life has prepared you for a grand exit.  God’s oldest have always been among His choicest!” He also said:  “As we get older, our vision should improve.  Not our vision of earth, but our vision of Heaven!” So to us that seem to be fading…let’s take ‘growing old’ in stride, and enjoy the ‘perks’.  Let’s die like a shooting star, and ‘go out’ in a blaze of glory…God’s Glory.