One of those "You Know" posts

It has been a slightly rough week at Bridgetender School.  The kids teetered on the brink of sickness for a day before completely falling in the pit with sneezing, coughing, congestion and low fevers.  They are recovering and now I am at that point, taking Vitamin C pills and other preventative measures, like going to bed early, to try and avoid that chasm, especially since I have to teach kids at church this week.  It was a freeing week, too, in which I confessed and repented to my kids that I have been once again hit with the "perfection bug" that causes me to stress out when the house/schedule/behavior of the kids isn't "perfect."  The biggest indicators of me being enslaved by perfectionism are experiencing extreme irritability that cannot be mollified by coffee and having a critical spirit.  It is so hard to confess to my kids, but so wonderful to have them run to me with hugs and offers of forgiveness.  But the original intention of this post was to piggy back on a post made earlier by Jottings by Jennifer, whose blog is like a cool cup of water to a thirsty soul.

Last week, she  posted a "You Know You Are A Youth Group Pastor's Wife" on her blog and challenged those who read her blog to come up with the same theme.  My post is going to be "You Know You are Getting Old."   Here are some of the indicators:

1.  Your favorite Big Hair Band that you loved in high-school and saved up to go to stadium-filled concerts  are now playing the county fair circuit, if they are even together.  They also don't sound the same as they did when they are young.
2.  The creaking noises that caused you to take the car in the shop continue as you get out of the car. (My husband's contribution).
3.  You hear the drum solo from "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida"  played out in your bones as you get out of bed and walk to take a midnight bathroom break.  Actually, if you know the song, "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida", you are probably old or"being retro."
4.  You realize that you were one of the first people to watch MTV back when all it played were music videos.
5.  You realize that you are as old as "Sesame Street" and when you watch the current episodes of "Sesame Street", you start longing for the good old days when Jim Henson actually made good puppet shows.
6.  All the heartthrob actors from your youth look like old men.  Yes, I am talking to you, Pierce Brosnan and Harrison Ford.
7.  Those ads in magazines for electric hair pluckers now make sense.
8.  You are telling some elementary-school kids that their parents probably heard the original version of "Stand By Me" by Ben E. King only to find out that their parents were kids during the 80's.
9.  You see a video of Lady Gaga and think that she is just a cheap imitation of Madonna.
10.  You walk in your grocery store and hear the music that played on MTV back when it was getting started.
And in the spirit of "Spinal Tap," (which is also an old movie), I will take my list to 11.
11.  You know that you are old when you stay up really late one night and it takes days to recover from it.

Yes, culture is a great way to make you feel old.  My parents could probably come up with a better list and my grandma could outshine us all with her list as she grew up in the Great Depression.  The nice thing to know is that, however old I will be before I die, whether I lose my mind or my body functions in the process, God will be there to help me through each hurdle of old age, just as He helped me through each hurdle of each stage of life I have encountered so far.


Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he

I am he who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you; 

I will sustain you and I will rescue you

“To whom will you compare me or count me equal? 

To whom will you liken me that we may be compared?"

Isaiah 46:4-5