Life is an adventure! (even after the kids are gone)

 

Do you ever wake up and feel like there isn’t any reason to get up? Who cares if I stay in my pjs all day? Why not veg in front of the tv, enjoying someone else’s life? How about devouring the whole pan of brownies or the carton of Moose Tracks ice cream? Where’s the purpose that drove you for so many years? Kids. A job. A house. A busy week ahead.

 

All these motivated me for three decades. Then things abruptly changed.

My house is now quiet. Seldom messy. I rarely bake. No pressing responsibilities—other than the occasional whiny dog needing to go outdoors. Meals are simple. The “umph” for getting up and getting going is gone.

Maybe I’m in midlife crisis. Maybe I really am getting O-L-D. (haha)

Remember the saying…”Life is a bowl of cherries, but this is the pits!”? Life changes—and aging—can be the pits.

Kids move out. The job ends. Dreams fade. Energy diminishes. What then? Am I done?

NO!!! (Well, I don’t think so.)

So, here’s what I’ve decided. I need ADVENTURE!

New experiences. Tasting things I’ve never tried in places I’ve never been. Seeing new sights. Having FUN just because!

Do you relate? If you’re over fifty, like me, I bet you do!

We all have a story to tell. A story to live. An adventure to find. Even still. Today. Now.

I’m ready to shake off the sadness over an empty house and live an adventure.

Fifty is my new fabulous! And my story is today.

What about you? What kind of adventure are you going to live this week?

Weeds in Me

It’s time to dig out the weeds in my berry patch—again! Every year I do it, and every year weeds return. It doesn’t matter if I dig down to the bottom of the roots or not, they’re determined to invade my berry patch like a plague. The above picture shows half my garden after I’ve hand-pulled weeds. The next one shows my very weedy, grass-overgrown patch—like the first half was before I got to it. If only I could figure out the trick to getting rid of weeds permanently.

Kind of like weeds in my life.

Those things I thought were gone forever, at an unsuspecting moment, pop up. Look at us. We’re back to bother you! Habits and thoughts I know are washed away taunt me like those naughty weeds in my garden. I give a problem to the Lord. It’s gone, right? But up a weed shoots at some unsuspecting moment, reminding me it can overrun my garden if I’m neglectful.

Is there a cure?

Soaking in the presence of Jesus is the only consistent life-weeding I know. Distractions are rampant on every side. Responsibilities and entertainment pull us this way and that. Yet, it’s exactly when I’m distracted and overly-busy that weeds in me grow out of control. When I’m focused on God, lost in Him, delighting in worship, things bother me much less. The weeds seem to be choked of oxygen.

Yet, I'm human, and I realize those grubby weeds are going to come back again. But I’m determined to stop them from overtaking my life—and my garden.

What do you do about weeds?