Tag older people and dreams

I had five items on my to-do list last week. Number three was:

Clean out closets in spare bedroom.

I managed to get 1, 2, 4, and 5 done but not number three. Maybe because it was the biggest job and the one I most dreaded.

But a few days later, I tackled it.

And, as with most projects, it morphed into cleaning the entire room. That’s good though. It needed it.

I found a box of memorabilia I had saved for years. In it, I found my son’s and daughter’s writings. I found “love” notes and pictures from my grandchildren, a birthday card from my mom. While I wish my children and grandchildren were still small sometimes, I also love that they have lives of their own, children of their own. My grandchildren are still a lot of fun.

I read some of the funny things they wrote. Read about their aspirations and their hopes. Then I thought about my own. Had I abandoned them? Was I still hoping and dreaming myself?

One of my favorite verses is Proverbs 13:12:

Hope deferred makes the heart-sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.

We will literally become sick, emotionally, physically, and mentally when our hope is removed. The effect of lost hope in regards to a person’s health has been well documented. There is a huge and direct connection between the two.

Live moves on. We are supposed to move on as well. I mean really, what choice do we have? Life is going to go on regardless and I prefer to go along for the ride rather than being left behind. God has as many dreams for us to pursue as he does our children and our grandchildren. God never quits using us.

Age has nothing to do with pursuing our dreams. Sure, some dreams may have to be modified. But there is almost nothing we have to completely abandon just because of our age.

So if you’re older and you are reading this, I hope you won’t abandon those interests that may your heart sing. Those activities that make you lose track of time.

Throughout the Bible, God uses people of all ages. From teenagers to senior citizens. He paid no attention to age, only to their hearts. God always uses those who say “yes”, whose heart is always open to His leading.

So why should age matter to us?  Why should we think God will not use us? Why do we let others define who we are and what we can and cannot do?

Cleaning my closets really was a wake-up call for me. It encouraged me to think about the past and the future. It reminded me that I need to get back to some of my own dreams but I need to clear out and get rid of some things first. I didn’t expect it to be a spiritual experience but it was.

It may be a few years before we move but at least I won’t have all this to do.

God bless and I hope you have a wonderful and blessed day.

+On a not so serious note, I hope I’m not the only one that looks at some things hanging in your closet and says, “What was I thinking?”

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