On Being a Tulip

I've been thinking a lot lately about how old I’m getting. On my 58th birthday recently, I told Mark I bet he never thought he’d have a nearly-60-year-old-woman as a good friend, and he agreed. As I was reflecting on this subject just now, a quote came to my computer that said, “It is not how old you are, but how you are old.” God has been good to give me such a close relationship with so many young friends (someone at the Beyond Walls concert asked if I was Spring’s mother), but I keep getting reminders of my age.

For example, what happened to my speed? I used to run the Peach 4-Miler fairly fast. Now I run in slow-mo, like a scene in a movie. (Lisa walks as fast as I run, which is great, really, because we were able to do the race together today in 56 minutes! I came in 4th in my age group, but there were only 4 of us!)

And it’s so hard getting up from the floor once I get down that Mark’s gotten used to pulling me up! And my balance is so bad that I had to hang on to Lisa coming down the steps of the platform at church the last time the choir sang, and there’s only about 3 of them! (Remember, Mark, you’ve gotta either escort me down or bring the microphone down to me tomorrow.)

Max Lucado says:

Aging is God’s idea. It’s one of the ways he keeps us headed homeward. We can’t change the process, but we can change our attitude. Here is a thought. What if we looked at the aging body as we look at the growth of a tulip?

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Do you ever see anyone mourning over the passing of the tulip bulb? Do gardeners weep as the bulb begins to weaken? Of course not. We don’t purchase tulip girdles or petal wrinkle cream or consult plastic-leaf surgeons. We don’t mourn the passing of the bulb; we celebrate it. Tulip lovers rejoice the minute the bulb weakens. “Watch that one,” they say. “It’s about to blossom.”

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Could it be heaven does the same? The angels point to our bodies. The more frail we become, the more excited they become. “Watch that lady in the hospital,” they say. “She’s about to blossom.” “Keep an eye on the fellow with the bad heart. He’ll be coming home soon.”

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These bodies are weak. They began decaying the minute we began breathing. And, according to God, that’s a part of the plan. Every wrinkle takes us one step closer to the last step when Jesus will change our simple bodies into forever bodies. No pain. No depression. No sickness. No end. This is not our forever house. It will serve for the time being. But there is nothing like the moment we enter his door.

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I CAN'T WAIT TO GET MY FOREVER BODY!