Words of Wisdom

I love to just sit with older people and have them talk about the days of old. Do you ever wonder what your grandparents were like when they were your age? Did they have the same struggles? Were they into the latest fashions? What kind of insecurities did they face? Did they wonder if they were being good parents? a good spouse? a good friend? Did they think they would life to ripe old ages? Did they fear that they would not? I wonder what events in their life truly shaped who they are today. Sometimes I think I look at my Grandmama and just think she loves to make biscuits, good spaghetti, and amazing sweet tea. I think I fail to see her as an actual woman.

We had a recent visit with Jon's sweet, 93-year-old Grandmother. She is an amazing person. Her sweet spirit reminds me so much of Jon's Dad. As we were sitting and talking I asked her, "So, Grandmother, what's your secret?" She looked at me with a perplexed look on her face. I think she thought I was asking her if she had any secrets. . . . "Your secret to living so long?" I clarified.

She thought for a few minutes and said this . . . "A positive attitude. I've always tried to have a positive attitude."

My sister was telling me the other than day that this man who was 112 years old was asked what the secret was to his long life? His answer was quite different than Grandmother's . . . He said, "Whiskey, Women, and Wild times." I think I like Grandmother's answer best.

While I think we should treat our bodies good with proper rest, diet, and exercise, I don't think there is really any secret to the "Fountain of Youth". Psalm 139:16 says, "Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." In a world full of cancer, chronic diseases, and death. . . it is easy to fall captive to fear . . . therefore, wanting to control things to help us live longer. "Take this pill." "Eat this way, not that way." "Exercise this amount of time for this many days." If we'd just get in into our thick heads that WE are not the ones in control. God is!!! He is God and we are not- period!!! No ifs, ands, or buts. He is expecting our unexpected. He knows how it all turns out . . . after all, He's the one who planned it that way. . . . and He works everything out for the good of those who are all called acording to His purpose . . . and for His glory (Romans 8:28-29).