Sometimes when I look in the mirror I see wrinkles and lines, I see skin sagging in places it never used to, and I notice some grey hair in amongst the usual brown. I have to admit, like you, that I am growing older.

Growing old is not really "in fashion" these days is it? The world seems to rush by, everyone walks so fast, and they are often impatient because I am slower. I find that young people often talk too fast, and it is hard to keep up with their conversation.

Sometimes I wish that I was young again.......but then I realise that although my body is ageing, my spirit is growing younger every day. I rather like to think that those wrinkles are really laugh lines, which have scratched permanent marks into my skin because of all the jokes and enjoyment, wonder and laughter I have heard throughout my life. Then I become pleased to have these lines. They show that I have really LIVED.

No matter how many birthdays I have had, I am still a person of great value, loved by God. I can still share the love and joy that makes life worth living.It doesn't really matter whether your age is eight, eighteen, fifty eight or ninety eight...... "it is always the right time to love others, to share your joy, to celebrate being alive, to make this world a better place, and to live the life God meant for you to live."('Never Too Old' - Joseph Mazzella.)

It is so wrong, so terribly wrong, to believe that your life has lost its value because of its age. The opposite is possibly true. If God has allowed you to live as long as He has, then there must be a REASON. God has left you on earth for a purpose.

My grandmother was moved to a Nursing Home at the age of 92. She could not get out of bed to walk.....not ever....and so she sat in her bed all day....or sometimes the nurses would help her out of the bed to sit in a chair. But the chair was right next to her bed, and the view was exactly the same. She was in a room with three other older folk, and she HATED it! Grandmother had very weak eyesight so she was unable to read, and unable to even properly see the other folk who shared her room. Consequently she did not speak to them. She did not like the food, she did not like the nurses, she hated the fact that she did not even have a window to look through .Although she was unable to focus properly, she could tell light and shade, and being near a window enabled her to tell if it was a sunny day, or a dark cloudy one. She had always been a keen gardener and loved flowers and trees, clouds and the changing seasons. To be unable to even see the shading of the sky quite depressed her.

Six months after Grandma had moved to the Nursing Home I went on one of my regular trips to visit her. I must admit, I felt very sad about seeing her this way.........she had always been so positive and had helped me more than any other person in my life, and I just wished I could get my 'real' Grandma back again.

As soon as I appoached her bed I noticed a change. She strained her head to see me and then came her old, familiar beaming smile. She greeted me and her eyes glistened. Something inside Grandma had changed her attitude.......nothing in her situation was different. I could hardly wait to find out what had happened to help her change her attitude.

Grandma began to speak. She told me she had just eaten a delicious roast chicken dinner. Goodnes me, that was new! Then she explained to me what had happened. Grandma had felt useless, and as if life was no longer worth living, but she decided to pray about it. Yes, SHE DECIDED TO CHANGE. She resolved to pray and keep praying till she felt the Lord had given her a job to do whilst in this bed in the Nursing Home. And excited as an eight year old, she told me that the Lord had shown her that her life was still needed on earth because He needed her to pray for the three other people sharing her room with her.

So Grandma prayed every day for these three people. She began to talk to them, even though she could not see them properly. She discovered that two had never been to church in their whole lives and were not Christian believers. She discovered that the other lady was a single lady who had never had a visitor.....not one.....in ten years. From that day onwards, when I visited Grandma, she would always ask me to visit the single lady for a little time too, so that she also had a visitor. Grandma lived for another six years in that Nursing Home, and do you know, over that time she led MANY of her room-mates to know and to love Jesus Christ. I think there were six in all because she had a variety of folk coming and going over that six years. Just think! When Grandma reached Heaven she would meet those six people again! And how thrilled God must have been. You see, Grandma still had a job to do for her Lord, right up until she was ninety-eight years old!

You, special ones, do too. It is never too late to share your love, your faith and to grow, and care for others so that they can do the same. Fill your days with beautiful acts of kindness. Tell your family, your nurses, your visitors, that you appreciate them. No words ever sound as wonderful as..... "I love you."

"This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it." (Psalm 118 : 24.)

God used old people, and they were among His choicest possessions......Abraham was most used by God when he became old, wise and mellow. Moses, Caleb, Samuel, St Paul........all of these and many others are spoken of in the Bible and did their best work when they were old.

We know that growing old brings lots of problems and difficulties. But it also brings many little oases too............solitude, music, time to pray, rest, reflect. Never forget that God has a plan for your life. He has chosen for you to live a long life for His purpose. This is not a mistake or afterthought. Listen to what the Lord says in Isaiah 46 : 3 and 4. You will spend eternity....for ever and ever....in the presence of the Lord, so really, there is no hurry. God knows the exact day and time, and let's trust Him to be with us, even as he has since our baby days. There is a special promise for you. Listen to it. (Read Psalm 92 : 12-15.

Lou Austin reminds us...."You are here for a purpose. There is no duplicate of you in the whole wide world. There never has been. There never will be. You were brought here now to fill a certain need. Take time to think that over."

HYMN: 'When we walk with the Lord'.

(C). 2004. Christine M. Jones.