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When will you consider yourself old?

9/28/2016

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"I will never be an old man. To me, old age is always 15 years older than I am." -- Francis Bacon

English philosopher, statesman, scientist, jurist, orator, and author Francis Bacon was only 65 when he died in 1626. So we'll never know if he would have been singing the same tune in his 70s, 80s or 90s.

But many of us sharing his philosophy will have the chance to find out. The average life expectancy in the U.S. is just a shade under 79 years right now. If we live that long, will we insist that old age begins at 93? 

Most of my nursing-home friends already consider themselves old. Though they're almost all widows or widowers, and miss their late spouses terribly, I don't know that many of them regret their age. Most seem to be at peace with it, and ready to move on to their heavenly eternities; the only part they're dreading is the actual act of dying. 

It's an attitude that rubs off on you if you spend much time with them. Which is another great reason for visiting elderly nursing-home residents just as often as you can. As inevitable as aging is, who doesn't want to be able to greet yet another birthday with peace and even joy?  ​
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Breaking news: my mother was right

9/20/2016

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I’ll bet that not a week goes by without my thinking, “Mom was right about that, too.” It’s uncanny; the old woman who always seemed to think she had all the answers – really did. 

Even when I hadn’t asked for her opinion. 

Even when my life was clearly none of her business. 

Even when she was obviously so old-fashioned and out-of-touch that her opinion could be safely ignored, if at all possible while nodding silently, as if in agreement.               

That’s what I did every time she railed against alcohol and illegal drugs, claiming that they were horribly dangerous.  

How silly, I’d think while nodding thoughtfully. Getting high is fun and I am immortal. 

It's what I did when she insisted that I learn to behave like a lady, because someday those skills would come in handy. 

Yeah, right! Like I'll ever want to spend time in polite society.  

It's what I did when she told me that the #1 criterion for choosing a man to marry was respect. 

What? Me marry? How impossibly old school!

It was also how I responded when she begged me to read her Kathleen Thompson Norris novels, promising that I’d cherish them as she had.

No mystery? No suspense? No feminist doctrine or sex? No way!

And when I could bear to keep my mouth shut, it was the way I greeted her constant yammering about a God who loved me dearly.

Oh yeah? Then how come my dad died when I was just 17?  

As it turns out, my mother was right about all of these things, as well as about virtually every other piece of advice she ever gave me. Why in the world did it take me almost a half a century to figure it out?

“Wisdom is so often forged in the sufferings of experience,” wrote Ray Comfort in a footnote to 2 Chronicles 10:8 in his phenomenal The Evidence Bible. “Youth forget that the aged were once young and impetuous, and formed much of their life’s philosophies from their mistakes.”

I‘m certainly living proof of that. Now that I’m in my 60s, I have all kinds of hard-won advice that I’d love to share with wild and crazy young women.

Just about all of it would echo what my mother tried to teach me so many years ago. And somehow I expect that their silent responses would echo my own. 

Originally posted 9/14
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Man overboard! 

9/13/2016

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​Too often, we depend on ourselves for everything – even our eternal security. The Bible tells us that’s not the way it works. In this message, inspired by Matthew 14:22-33 and delivered in late August to residents, family and friends of Care-age of Brookfield, Chris Carrillo provides a powerful reminder that it’s God Himself who saves us, and is always ready to catch us if we fall. (Image: Christ Stills The Tempest, Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo, 18th century)
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Vicarious joy

9/8/2016

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I’ve attended a number of funerals this year – nothing unusual there, considering both my age and the time I spend with elderly friends at the nursing home. But this year’s farewell services got me thinking once again that it’s never too late to receive Christ as one’s personal Savior.
 
In particular, three of my late friends had several eternally significant traits in common.
 
First, each had a stunning story of a late-in-life conversion. All had been life-long church-goers, although their denominations differed. But all received Christ long after the time that, according to conventional wisdom, is the upper limit of when people get saved. The youngest at the time of conversion was 58; the oldest, 92.
  
Second, they each had amazing wisdom to share, even though their Christian walks had been relatively brief. I suppose that’s partly because they had time to think about the things of God, and the things of eternity. Just as important, they had decades of life experiences to ponder anew, this time with eternal eyes – including heart-breaking experiences that, after all, led them to this place, and this time, where they would finally meet the Savior and accept His free offer of a heavenly forever.
 
Third, each of these aged saints had beatific expressions in this life. And while I know that those well-worn visages probably didn’t go with them to heaven, I enjoy imagining that they did – and envisioning how rapturous each one would have looked to have come face to face, at long last, with the One who died for them. In fact, my heart leaps each time I picture one of them experiencing such unfathomable joy – and in turn imagining what it will be like when I join them, one happy day.
 
What a blessing it is to get to know these elderly brothers and sisters in Christ! 
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Stamp out smut  

9/3/2016

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Not long ago, stuck in "my" nursing home's library waiting for a computer reboot, I picked up one of the scores of donated books to pass the time (and, I suppose, to check out the competition; this one had "Bestselling Author!" plastered on front and back cover alike).

Imagine my shock to find that the opening chapter was nothing less than hard-core pornography. I quickly stashed it on an upper shelf and picked up another, by a different best-selling author, only to find the same thing. And then a third -- not quite as bad, but it still probably qualified as soft porn. 

If this sampling is at all representative of what's selling today, it would seem that many of the most popular books have become popular not in spite of but because of their focus on sex and violence, to name two common themes.  I asked some of the avid readers among the residents how they felt about this sort of thing. "I hate it," said one. "I just skip over those parts," said another. "Guess that's just how books are today," said yet another.

It doesn't have to be that way, however. If you're a reader who appreciates wholesome fiction, classic devotionals, thought-provoking non-fiction, or biographies of important people, why not offer those you've finished to your local nursing home instead of automatically packing them off to Goodwill? 
 
Large-print editions are especially welcome -- particularly if they're paperback, which can be easier for the frail elderly to handle. 

Originally posted 9/13
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Have an extra $92,376 in savings?

9/1/2016

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​The median annual cost of a private nursing home room in the United States has increased to $92,376 for 2016, according to the latest survey from insurance company Genworth. That’s a good reason for thinking twice before spending too much on assisted living. 
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    Kitty
    Foth-Regner

    I'm a follower of Jesus Christ, a freelance copywriter, a nursing-home volunteer, and the author of books both in-process and published -- including
    Heaven Without Her.

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