Rear View Mirror

 "I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done." Psalm 143:5

"I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory." Psalm 63:2

    There are perks to getting older. Consider all the cool senior citizen discounts that become available. We who have more salt that pepper in our hair these days get cheaper haircuts, movie admissions and purchases. We are offered smaller meals at some restaurants. Perhaps we receive deference from those younger than us. 

    Recently, Dave and I attended a free dinner and play performance put on by the students at my former high school. We were so impressed by the polite friendliness we encountered from each kid we met. They went above and beyond our expectations. 

    It's most beneficial to peer behind me in the rear view mirror at my faith journey because I can attest to the many mile markers along the way. When I was a child, I had no idea where God was going to lead me, but now that I am older, I can share the myriad marvels I have experienced at His hand of grace and mercy.

    The roots of my Christian upbringing gave me the best start, but God did not stop with that. I was saved from certain death when I had gone into anaphylactic shock. I was rescued from further tragedy when I was deeply lost in the woods. When the car I was riding in appeared to be headed into a horrid crash, I was brought through to the other side of it, totally unscathed. Why was I spared?

    As a teenager, when I had attended a revival called Jesus '77 in Pennsylvania, I witnessed a miracle before my eyes. A group of kids was encircled in prayer around a young man whose leg from hip to toe was encased in a cast. Imagine my reaction when the guy suddenly fell to the ground as the cast cracked and those around him excitedly began to peel it off!

    My Jesus revealed His saving grace to me when, as a young bride, I read the eighth chapter of Romans along with many of the Psalms. He delivered me from evil when I saw a demonic presence at the foot of my bed one night. Before my dad died, God lifted the cloud of dementia so we could say our goodbyes to him. What a merciful gift that was! And just last year, God saved my granddaughter from a terrible outcome when she fell from a second floor window.

    This is just an abbreviated list, inconclusive at best. If I could enumerate all the terrific things God has bestowed upon me, chief of sinners though I be, there wouldn't be enough paper on which to record them. I do hope to attempt it, though, as I write my memoirs for the next generation, which now includes a wee grandson named Roman!

    It's not really bad, this aging business. I see it as an opportunity to share my testimony. May you find the words to do the same.

"Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your mighty acts to all who are to come." Psalm 71:18