Happy Birthday

Today is Larry's birthday. I asked him if he felt different today. That is kind of a joke in our family because since the boys have been little on their birthdays I ask them if they feel any different on that day. They always laugh and say I knew you were going to say that. Usually the answer is no but occasionally I get a yes. In my head I have kind of tracked the times that the answer is yes. These are the major yes years. Sometime around 12 or 13, 16, 20, recently 26 was added and this year 47 also made the grade. If you look at those ages with maybe the exception of 47 there are new things to look forward to during those millstones. In our family at 12 or 13 you are going into youth and you can officially be called a teenager. I almost forgot 14 because you can get your drivers permit. Then 16 and you can drive alone. For most of our boys this means you can get a job. At 20 you just sound older. When people ask you how old you are there is no longer a teen on the end of the number and somehow it just makes you feel older. When I asked Layne the other day if he felt any different now that he was 26. He said it seemed weird to him that a quarter of his life was done. And now Larry and I are saying that yea 47 feels different. The age of 50 is closer, not the quarter century mark but half a century. A knew time is ahead for us. Kind of like a 18 year old who has their whole future ahead of him. We have a whole knew era ahead us or rather we can see it.
We all mark time. We use watches, calendars, seasons, meals, events, sizes, etc. etc. etc. and yes birthdays.
Oh if we focus on those sometimes it can be depressing. For God there is no time. I think he marks things in our lives by growth. How much more we look like him and reflect his nature, his character.
A 10 year old child can look like a 50 year old if his character looks like Gods.
Since this is a continual track that will not end until we are with Him then we are all young. And the events we celebrate do not mark physical age but transformation and we do not attribute the changes to time but to the goodness of Jesus. And for that we give God all the glory. Only God can take a heart of stone and make it soft and pliable. And that happens regardless of age. It happens for young and old alike.

So maybe Larry and I really can feel like teenagers again if we look at time like God does. He has a great measuring stick.

Just"B"