Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Signposts along the way



When we're out on the boat we know to stay well away from lighthouses. They warn of chunky bits in the water that would damage our vessel. A lighthouse is a warning, but it's also a landmark. It commands our attention. "Ignore me at your peril," it says. 

I think birthdays can say the same thing. In a few days I'll celebrate a big one - 60. Even writing the number seems unreal. How did this happen? When did I become, gulp, old? 

The uncertain teenager, the adventurous 20-year-old, the busy woman with a growing family - those women that I was and still am seem not so far away. They remain inside my heart and my head. Yet, if I mentally pull myself away from myself and try a little objectivity, I know that I am not the same person I was 10, 20, 30, 40 years ago. 

I don't want to be any of those women; I'm happy to be me, now, with the lessons learned from being 20, 30, 40, and 50. I look back over the years and am happy that my regrets are few and my joys many. Oh, I sort of wish I had the energy of 20-year old me, and the body to go with it, but I'm content with who I am just now. 

I'm thankful to God for his faithful presence throughout these 60 years. It's not always been easy to believe, but working through my doubts through prayer and study has helped me establish and grow my faith while at the same time embracing uncertainty. The very essence of faith requires mystery.


Roses bloom late in my garden this October, perhaps to remind me that growth happens at any stage of life. Many plans, delights and dreams grow in my heart, forming buds that I hope will flower in time.


The rain and wind tear at the tender petals but the fragrance and beauty remains in October roses. 

This week I'm teaching some lessons on sonnets. Shakespeare's Sonnet XVII is one of them. He writes about how no one in the future will ever believe how beautiful his subject is, and will accuse the poet of lying. The one thing that would make others believe that the poet was not exaggerating would be if a child of the subject were alive, and the poet's description could be verified through that child. 

It made me laugh. Yesterday I made gingersnaps - perhaps for the second time this year. I spoke to my eldest daughter and she had made gingersnaps this week, too. Then I Skyped with my younger daughter who was eating cookie dough - yes, gingersnaps. In small and funny ways we do live on in our children. 



33 comments:

  1. Ha-ha! Isn't it ironic?!! Tis' the season for gingersnaps. :) Happy almost birthday to you! My youngest boy turned 18 yesterday. My oldest was 21 on the 3rd. Both big birthdays for them as they venture into different stages of adulthood. Age is such a strange thing. This month also marked our 22nd anniversary. Time marches on. Have a wonderful day.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Happy Birthday in advance! You're just a young'un. I enjoyed reading your thoughts...it seemed as if you were stepping along a rocky beach, finding your way carefully along. I watched a young woman clean her house on You Tube this week. The energy! It's one of the things I miss about being younger...that and...nah, no more grumbling as I don't want to scare you. How lovely to have roses blooming so late into the fall.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wishing you a very happy birthday!
    Always lovely to see your posts and to have shared tea with you...we might do it again sometime.
    XO

    ReplyDelete
  4. When my husband was laughing at me at the start of the month when I was all excited about my (64th) birthday, I pointed out that I am still alive to celebrate,as I have now lost several friends. So I embrace birthdays ...... even if, in my head, I am still 29

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wishing you a wonderful Birthday and everything that you wish for yourself. Such a beautiful post, how wonderful that in so many ways we do live on in our children.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Lorrie, I hope you have a wonderful 60th birthday & celebrate all month long!!
    ♫♫ Happy Birthday ♫♫
    True Serendipity that your girls were baking gingersnaps right along with you...or what I sometimes call a "God Wink".

    My roses look just like yours but I keep forgetting to get out there & capture a photo. Now it is raining with touches of sleet, so I know they won't last much longer. :(

    ReplyDelete
  7. I wish you a day full of good wishes on your birthday. I am leaving my '60s behind soon. Not to be a negative Nancy, I have not much like being 60 and + because as you I have wondered how did I get so old so fast? So now, I am announcing

    ReplyDelete
  8. OOOOOPs hit the wrong key. II wish you a day full of good wishes on your birthday. I am leaving my '60s behind soon. Not to be a negative Nancy, I have not much likes being 60 and + because as you I have wondered how did I get so old so fast? So now, I am announcing that in December I will be 70 so that I can get used to that age. Actually I have little to complain about: a good life, good health, wonderful family, great friends. Age is only relative. We want to keep having birthday and to celebrate each one. Loved teaching Shakespeare's sonnets for they have such wit and wisdom. I hope your students appreciate your efforts. Now, that is the way to enjoy your birthday!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I loved hearing your reflections and thoughts about aging. A life lived with few regrets and many joys is blessed indeed! Wishing you the happiest of birthdays! (Perhaps you'll celebrate with ginger snaps?) :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Congrats on turning 60☺ I hope you will have a wonderful birthday♥

    ReplyDelete
  11. A very happy early birthday, Lorrie! And may I say that you're still a mere child, from my perspective? But yes, oh to have the energy of that 20-year old. Thankfully we do learn to watch for the lighthouse warnings as we add up the birthdays--most of the time.

    I love gingersnaps! Makes me want to get out my baking things, and I haven't packed them away yet.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Ah, gingersnaps. Our daughter had made a big batch while we were visiting, I got the recipe, and made some last week. Thymus be the cookie of the month :)
    Wishing you a wonderful day on your birthday. This can give new meaning to the 60's :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Wonderful reflections on aging, and so well said. As long as we keep growing and learning new things and experiencing grace, aging is good, even though we're constantly surprised by how old we are. Happiest of birthdays, Lorrie!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Now I want gingersnaps! Have a wonderful 60th. Celebrate who you are, wonderful you! How I would love sitting in and listening to you teach about the sonnets. I was thinking about age just the other day and sending mentally good wishes to all those that are younger. Wishing for them good memories and experiences along the way.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous2:57 PM

    Ahh...a great post as you welcome 60. You will make this decade look great for sure. That is such a funny story about you and your daughters all making gingersnaps!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Have a wonderful birthday! Very thoughtful post...

    ReplyDelete
  17. What a lovely milestone birthday post! To have memories filled with joy and few regrets is a gift in itself. Wishing you an awesome birthday celebration and many blessings in the decade to come.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Oh, Happy Birthday, enjoy it because when you turn 70, you will think, gosh, wish I was 60 again...xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  19. Happy Birthday, Lorrie! I wished that I knew that it was a milestone birthday. May this new decade be the best one yet!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Happy Birthday Lorrie! 60 is a milestone, for sure. I hope your year is blessed with health, contentment and adventure!

    ReplyDelete
  21. This is such a beautiful reflective post. I just love it. The metaphors in the flowers...the comment that the nature of faith requires uncertainty... All so perfectly put as you use the gifts God has given you with observation and use of words. Happy Birthday blogging friend!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Happy Birthday! I hope it is a great day and the start of many great things to come! xx

    ReplyDelete
  23. I love the gingersnaps story, seem you all love them. Happy Birthday my friend, 60 is an amazing age. I can't understand how people mind getting older, it is going to happen and the alternative is that you are not here. Have a wonderful celebration.

    ReplyDelete
  24. What a beautiful and serene post, Lorrie!
    For the lucky ones of us, getting older means becoming more tender, tolerant, loving.
    I don't usually miss the energy of my younger years, but I do wish I had known and understood the things I know now, when I was 20, 30 and so on.
    Wishing you a very happy birthday! ♥

    ReplyDelete
  25. Have a wonderful birthday weekend!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  26. Beautiful roses and I wish you a very happy birthday. I feel much the same way about getting older.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Awww Lorrie, Happy 60th Birthday! Yes, we are ever evolving, aren't we? I may be 67, but I don't feel like it (except when caring for my almost two year old granddaughter, whom I've had since Wednesday until tomorrow. Sh-h-h-h, she's sleeping right now!).
    I loved reading that you and your daughters were all making gingersnaps. How cute is that?!
    May you have a blessed year, dear Lorrie!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Happy Happy Birthday! I enjoyed your meditation and yes those big 0 birthdays are certainly cause for reflection -- but since I am over a decade and a half ahead of you (if 'ahead'is the right word in this instance), I just refuse to think of you as "old". I know there are three stages of 'old' -- but I don't even think you are in the first one yet!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Happy Birthday Lorrie! I think I had that head shaking moment when I turned 30. I am 61 and it's not too bad. I can get away with a lot of things...LOL Take care, Kit

    ReplyDelete
  30. I loved your musings today, taking us from the lighthouse to a birthday milestone to living on in our children... and I felt myself in agreement with you as you shared your heart. Where does time go to? And how funny that our children are so much like us too! Enjoy your gingersnaps... happy Birthday to you, have a blessed Sunday!

    ReplyDelete
  31. How beautifully and thoughtfully this post was written, Lorrie! It is the writing of someone who truly knows who she is and Whose she is. There is a deep contentment in your words, and I am thankful to be reconnected here and to have read them. I am not far behind you, and that contentment and ability to find beauty in every age, in every place, and in whatever circumstance is my goal, as well. May you have the most blessed 60th birthday!

    Christi

    ReplyDelete
  32. It's obviously the time of year for gingersnaps ...LOL!

    Some lovely photographs you have shared, thank you.
    Good wishes for a Happy Birthday

    All the best Jan

    ReplyDelete
  33. Happy Birthday Lorrie! Wishing you a wonderful year ahead. I loved this thoughtful post and how you put into words some of my own thoughts and feelings too. Love the fact that you and your girls all made gingersnaps around the same time.....that is the perfect example of the little things that go on through the generations,they may be small things but they are vital links and memory keepers.
    Helen xox

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for your comment. I read and value each one, cherishing the connections we can make although far apart. Usually, I visit your blog in return, although if you ask a question I try to contact you directly.

A Wander Through my Mind

  Nothing is so beautiful as Spring -  When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush; Gerard Manley Hopkins When I opened my bedroom...