Grow Old Along with Me . . . 48 Years!

Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be,
the last of life, for which the first was made.
Our times are in his hand who saith,
'A whole I planned, youth shows but half;
Trust God: See all, nor be afraid!’
Robert Browning

I love the time in my day when I can just sink into my oversized comfortable couch and watch a favorite old Western on TV. My rest time the other day found me watching “Wagon Train.” And I was arrested by a recurring line of poetry that grabbed the thoughts of one of the characters. She was a beautiful older woman who met up with an old “beau” from the distant past. She had been widowed and was therefore free and her former sweetheart was also.

The theme that threaded through the rest of the show (as they slowly renewed their affection) was “Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be, the last of life, for which the first was made.”

And I couldn’t help but think that this is a good theme for this stage of John’s and my marriage.

How so, you ask?

John and I have walked together as struggling spouses through the highs and lows, the joys and the sorrows, the energy and weakness, the beauty and the fading of our younger years together. Was all of that so that we could be friends and companions and supports in these waning and fading years of older age? We know each other (but not as well as we should). We accept each other (but not as deeply as we could). And we love each other more unconditionally because of what has gone before.

So was this really what God had in mind all along? Because He knew that old age wouldn’t be a picnic and having companions who knew and accepted and loved and supported each other would be what all that struggle into “oneness” would produce? Somehow I know God had factored it all together by His grace.

So happy 48th anniversary, John, my love.

“Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be, the last of life, for which the first was made.”

Amen.

That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are[e] being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NLT

2019

1971

PS Our anniversary blog posts from the last eight years reveal the uniqueness of God's grace in our years together … lots of ebb and flow— take a look HERE