This morning while picking up the house and getting ready for the day, it occurred to me with stunning, non-negotiable truth that this November I am turning 75! I did not wince at this serendipitous reminder. Pastor Olen Griffing, a very wise man, mentor, and friend told me once that it is only in your 50’s when life gets really fun and rewarding! Too young to grasp his truth, I rejected the thought totally! In my 50’s and beyond, I have found his wisdom to be sound and true. Old enough to know what’s important or not and not let sorrow, disappointments, or even betrayals dictate or ruin my life, age 50 and up has been the best wine saved until the last. And–it only gets better. My 70’s have been off-the-chart! I don’t want to sleep because I’m afraid to miss a moment.

Has my life been without suffering, disappointment, or betrayal? No. But the foundation of navigating all sorrow is gratitude and trust in God and those around me. Also embracing the responsibility of finding and maintaining my own portion of daily joy is something that I take seriously and is key to happiness in late life.

So here I am close to 75 and beginning a second book. It will be very different from my first, “Sabbath a Gift of Time.” I have kept a blog since 2007! Although I have not written daily, I have written every time that I felt I had something to say or something in my mind to work out. Since my husband, daughter, and I were missionaries and lived abroad for nine years, there is much about our international experiences. We also traveled long and hard for 22 years in many nations. That is there too with candid transparency and humor. Blogging has been a wonderful expression of my journey, so I am collecting some of my favorite poems and essays and putting them together in a book. The title is “Joy is Something You Swallow: A Roadmap to Joy.” I am about half finished. I do appreciate your prayers as I press on to complete this task. It has been sheer delight to arrange a meaningful compilation of both poems and essays as a reflection of our journeys but filled with the common theme of the pursuit of joy.

Would I have been able to bring these thoughts and scribblings together collectively like this before age 75-? Maybe. I have learned one thing for sure and that is the purposes and the timing of God need to be in perfect precision for Him to receive the most glory. I do not question the timing. I am eager to become an expression of hope and joy to a hungry and hurting world. I also believe that it is never too late to leave a ray of light splintering the darkness in the world that points to a bloody cross and an empty tomb.

Below is an excerpt of chapter 13, a prose poem, titled, “At the Nail Salon.”

13

“Has the world been so kind to you that you should leave with regret? There are better things ahead than any we leave behind.” C. S. Lewis

At the Nail Salon

Although everyone I know loves the luxuries of a manicure/pedicure or facial, I do not. The truth is that I never had a pedicure or facial without the scolding of the professional offering her skills. According to her, I’ve done an

inadequate job managing my feet or face on my own. She hopes the damage is reversible. 

Can you relate?  

Since we’re on the subject, I’ve rarely seen a dentist, doctor, or chiropractor that didn’t shame or scare me into good health. You see professional people—I much prefer to be comforted, affirmed, and inspired

to do better—not scolded or shamed. 

What I am really sharing here is the result of childhood emotional wounds that pop-up in the oddest places like the local dentistry or nail salon. 

With these experiences, there is always regret that edges its way in too. I have seen it in my mother and father’s gazes as they have grown old and longed to connect with their children as adults more openly and 

intimately. The welling-up of pain and the irrevocable swift passing of 

time that pools in their eyes and runs warm down the soft skin of their cheeks. I have blinked away my own pained regrets with my daughter. 

In every generation, there is no new brokenness under the sun or sky or stars at night. We step over or upon the shattered fragments of people’s pain every day. But today I gazed into my granddaughter’s eyes and 

saw the clean slate of fresh hope in a new generation and the healing 

power of love through the simple wisdom of living long enough to 

know regret and childhood bruises are swallowed up forever in one 

big gulp of forgiveness and a thousand tiny kindnesses and kisses 

everyday ever after. The ground under my feet swells with purpose as 

I age, and I run with light feet now loaded with bags and bags of 

mercy to give as I have been given. Mercy that mends, mercy that connects, and mercy stitches the generations together in love as a scarlet banner 

signaling to the world, “This is a safe place.”

That we may be safe.

Oh, the blood and water that courses through the earth from 

Jerusalem’s Calvary poured out–that we may be safe.

Roadmap to Joy

Scripture – “But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus, his Son purifies us from all sin,” (I John 1:7).

Prayer – Dear Lord, I bring my childhood or adult trauma to you and ask that you heal me and bring wholeness so that my actions toward those around me will not perpetuate the sins and or mistakes of previous generations. Forgive me and enable me to forgive others and extend mercy as I have received by your loving kindnesses.

Activation – As believers, we are called to reconciliation. What areas need repair and reconciliation in your life due to childhood or adult trauma. Make a list. Make it a serious matter of prayer. Ask God for answers. God has a solution for deep-heart healing so the sins and mistakes of others in your life or previous generations will not continue to hurt or harm. It is courageous to seek professional or pastoral counseling.