I Think I'll Give Thanks!

It’s cold outside. I’m cold inside. It looks sunny and warm from inside the house but there is a wind that chills to the bone. Welcome to the month of March!

I’ve been confined to the house much too long…..having much, too much, time to focus on myself.

Was it Kathryn Hepburn or Bette Davis that came up with that humdinger of a quote…”Getting old isn’t for sissies.” I’ll say it was Kathryn Hepburn because I’ve always liked her better than Bette.

Yes, I’m more fortunate than many people around me. No terminal illness, no crippling illness, no mental illness (that could be disputed by some), no emotional illness. Just the normal aggravating things that start going wrong as a person ages.

For example: My eyes give me fits. I’ve been fighting glaucoma for almost two years. First one kind of eye drop, then two kinds of drops, and now, 3 different drops, twice a day. I have an appointment the first of the week for pressure check. If it hasn’t stabilized, then I’m facing some kind of laser treatment on my left eye.

Another example: My teeth are shifting. One of my bottom FRONT teeth (why couldn’t it be a molar?) is being pushed out of line. I have tried to ignore this because of lack of dental insurance.

Another example: I have a small wart-like growth at the end of my NOSE! Even the use of Mary Kay Concealer has ceased to hide it completely. Good grief! What if it’s cancerous?

Let’s see, now. What else?….how about that condition that the T.V. commercials call Restless Leg Syndrome? I did mention this discomfort to my doctor last summer and he told me to “take a couple of Aleve when I go to bed”. No sympathy, no sympathy!!

Yes, I know what scripture says! In 1 Thessalonians 5:18, Paul writes:

“Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

I’m (hopefully) grounded enough in my faith that even in times of facing the unknown, and facing the unpleasant circumstances of growing older, that at least I’ll be able to hang on to the promise that God is with me whether it be a terminal situation are just some crazy, aggravating thing that every 67 year old person goes through. I pray that I’m not put to the test in the near future!

In the meantime, I think I’ll give thanks….thanks that I’m not blind yet and that there are surgeries for glaucoma; thanks that the protruding tooth is on the BOTTOM and doesn’t show when I smile; and thanks that there are not HAIRS growing from the wart on the end of my nose!!