Do you ever look back and think, “Me and my bright ideas?” Well today was one of those days. When we first arrived in Florida I washed all of the windows that don’t have screens and can be reached from the outside. Unfortunately, the living room windows were not one of those. I hated looking through the dirty windows and asked Jim to help this morning.
They are hurricane windows and very heavy, not to mention the windows are extremely wide. It takes two people to release both buttons and lift them. Jim and I struggled to get the bottom window lifted, but were finally successfully and tilted it inward. I washed it and we pulled the top window down. Except it didn’t just pull down—it slammed down, wedging my right hand in the crack!
Jim was trying to push it up, I was trying to help one handed. I tried to pull my hand out, but there was no way. As he is shoving upward, I am thinking, “If I scream for help is there a neighbor outside?” (Screaming would not have been hard to do as my hand was really hurting.) Finally, Jim was able to lift it enough for me to get my hand out. I washed it, we shoved it back up, and worked for another five minutes to get it latched into place again. Needless to say we were exhausted washing one window. What a workout!
The moral to the story? We aren’t getting any younger. We were able to wash the windows last year, but this year, one window got the best of us. His arthritic shoulder is now aching. My hand is swollen and will be all shades of purple and blue tomorrow. Needless to say, we only cleaned one of the two living room windows, and I no longer care.
Loosing strength. Getting older. Aching muscles. Arthritis. These are all things that are out of our control as we age, but there is good news. God is still in control. If I had started to scream, He would have sent a neighbor. When my hand was pinched and throbbing, He kept me calm.
Life rolls on even when our bodies are aging. We can fight the aging process, or we can accept it as part of life. Though our bodies may not be what they used to be, we are thankful for the wisdom we have obtained through the ups and downs of life. For every set back in life, like a smashed hand and an aching shoulder, God will always be there for us, reminding us that we have lead splendid lives together, all three of us. One day we will look back on this escapade with laughter, and God will join us in laughter that day too.
The glory of the young is their strength; the gray hair of experience is the splendor of the old. (Proverbs 20:29).
