Age is a Double-Edged Sword

Age is a double-edged sword.

When you’re a young person, you can’t wait to grow up.

I can’t wait to drive.

I can’t wait to date.

I can’t wait to graduate.

I can’t wait to be married.

I can’t wait to buy a house.

I can’t wait to have kids.

I can’t wait to have grandkids.

I can’t wait to die.

Wait! Does anyone really say that last statement?

Desiring to grow up when you’re young is normal. I have never known a child who says “I want to be a kid my whole life!” Though, as an adult, he/she may still act like a child, all the while thinking he is acting like an adult.

I am no different than anyone else. I wanted to grow up and be an adult; I really thought I could handle it. Being in charge of my own life, my own money, my own apartment, it sounded very alluring when I was a teenager. I was considerably mature, had some goals in life, and I thought I could handle it.

Then, Life came along and turned me upside down, shook me hard, and left me broken and bruised, lying on the ground. But I picked myself up, dusted (and dusted) myself off, and I’ve come a long way in those years. Every now and then, though, Life comes back and tries to discourage me again. I’ll admit that sometimes it does, but again, I pick myself up and shake off the dust.

I’m now 47 years old, soon to be 48, and I have discontinued the “I can’t wait” statements after I can’t wait to have kids. I know some people look forward to the next phase in life, having grandkids, but I’m still seated in the chair of wanting my own kids to stay kids, if only a little longer.

I don’t want them to make the same mistakes I did when I was young. I have found, however, that no matter how you might want it for them, they have minds of their own. And wills of their own. And lives of their own. And they have to live with the consequences of their own decisions while parents stand by and watch, wishing all the time that they would have listened to the wisdom that comes from those who have gone through these things before.

But why should we think they would be any different than we were at their age? Did we think Mom and Dad really had the answers to all of life’s questions?

While my parents were not perfect, they were right on many levels.

All I can hope is that someday, my kids, while contemplating the reasons their children do the things they do, look back and say that they learned from us in some fashion. Maybe they’ll wish they would have listened more. Maybe they’ll try to teach their kids not to wish their life away.

And hopefully, they will understand the love it takes to let someone go into this world and make their own mistakes… all the while, lifting them up to the only One who can save them.