"Gabe's mom says the first twenty years are all about charm. From twenty to forty, it's about beauty. Forty to sixty is the contentment season, and then sixty to eighty are the dignity years."
Good Morning Company Girls!
As I pondered this quote yesterday.....it made me smile.....I've had mixed feelings about having my sixtieth birthday this November... sixty sounds so old .....but dignity sounds quite lovely...has a nice ring to it....I'm unsure of whether I can pull it off....but it's worth a try!
The book that I got the quote from was just a little book that I found on a discount table....in fact, I think I bought it with someone else in mind but ended up reading it myself...and even though it was just a little fiction diddy...it had some nuggets in it that I truly found touching my heart...don't you just love little surprises like that! Another quote was a paraphrase of a scripture verse in Matthew 11 ~
"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me -- watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace."
~Learn the unforced rhythms of grace~ oh my, now that really spoke to my heart....doesn't that just impress you with dignity ?
I truly need a real rest these days...and I realized that it has to come from within...starting in my heart......
...if we keep on chasing after rest in all the wrong places.....going different places, doing restful things, being with certain people (or not being with certain people) then we're really just chasing after the soap bubble that a child blows into the air....we can't really catch them can we, as they float so high and lazily away from our reach.....the true rest that we are yearning for, searching for, trying to attain, would not be there even if we were able to reach it with our fingertips....because it's all surface, it's all so elusive.....and even a really good sleep or nap does not provide the rest that we are desperately needing at this point in our lives....
.....instead of me railing against God and my 'lot in life'....I need to realize and accept that he's just writing a new history in my life....something that I need to move with , gracefully and with dignity~
who knew that a little discounted fiction book could make me see all that!
When I rail against what plan God has for me...it's exhausting...I am weary.....okay the constant physical pain I have has a lot to do with it all but I know, that what I really have to work on is my heart. I can't change the physical pain ...it's always there, it always will be there (something to look forward to in heaven...no pain...what a concept!)....but....I can work on my heart...and maybe coming into my sixtieth birthday.....I'll be able to do it with dignity.
7 comments:
I think you'll slide into the dignity stage with no problem at all :)
Dignity actually sounds better to me than contentment, which is where I am. Trying to be content! I loved this post!
what a thoughtful post!
Love all this insight! Thanks for sharing today.
You have me curious: what is the title of the little book you found?
I think all of what you have said applies to any of us, regardless of the season of life. Well said; and I'm pretty sure you're on the right track to arrive at "dignity".
I thought this post was simply lovely and though-provoking. That little discount book was a treasure and I'm so glad you shared. I'm still working on the "contentment" phase....and I sure do like the thought of "dignity" being the next phase after that. I think you will carry that well....
I've been working on a study of "refuge" for a retreat this fall and this little message was just perfect for today.
What a lovely, lovely post! So glad you picked up that book off the sale table. It has now blessed a lot of us! You are headed straight to 60 with a whole lot of dignity and I'm right behind you. :o) Blessings to you.
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