Sunset, Sunrise

 Only recently on a cool October morning, my dogs awakened me for their early morning 'toilette', on which I was greeted with this stunningly beautiful sunrise. I ran to get my camera, but it could not capture the rainbow of colors & vibrancy of fire lighting the sky. I could only say "Wow......" . But that one little word carried a multitude of thought & feeling. & humble thanksgiving that the Lord had sent this invitation to join Him in His gift to me first thing in the morning. Awesome. That's a word that I never use except in connection with God. It belongs only to Him. & these October days as well, have been filled with His awesomeness.                                         

Time to say, goodbye.

Sunrise, sunset....

swiftly go the years....

I have been lamenting that at this time of my life, the October years, there are more goodbyes now, more losses.

It seems like I woke up & all of a sudden, I can't do the things that I used to do. Although I know that it didn't happen all at once, life is so full I don't realize it. 

For instance, my husband & I just had our 40th anniversary.

 

It was a very sweet & romantic evening. (That's a piece of cheesecake that we shared peeking out of the left hand bottom corner. It was scrumptious!)

We danced to  some old music from our time era such as "Sleepwalk",  some Percy Faith songs, & 'our' song, "Longer" by Dan Fogelberg, to the accompaniment of, "Ouch, my back!" "Oh, don't twirl me, my knee won't go in that direction anymore!"  "Oo-oo-oo, that hurt my hip!"

Then, there's waning eyesight, loss of hearing, ( you ought to hear some of the conversations in our house. or non-conversations, depending on how you look at it.)

Kids are now living far away, grandkids are mostly grown & have their own interests & lives, jobs available for the hearing impaired, body impaired, ( those body parts that are not only impaired but cannot be re-paired!) are almost non-existent ( & can anyone really live on social security alone?!)& then there's memory loss. Oh for the days of going to the next room & remembering what you went in there for. & Multi-tasking? Nope! Those days are histoire, historia, geschichte, or in other words, gone. It's a sort of here one day, gone the next, life in these October years. I could go on & on, but thank the Lord that we have not lost our sense of humor! & when those moments of reality (sometimes accompanied by self-pity & bitterness in my own life) those losses sneak up behind you, grab you & yell, "GOTCHA!" just reset your focus on Jesus. 

Yes, there are many sunsets in our lives.

 

 Days, times, loved ones, seasons that are gone. Some sunsets are cruel & devastating & bewildering. But may I say, according to the King James version of Ecclesiastes 1:5, "The sun also ariseth''....

The sun also rises. 

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Philippians 4:13

"Therefore we do not lose heart, even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is  being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, ( & part of that light affliction is growing older, though at times it doesn't seem light!)

is working for us a far more exceeding & ETERNAL weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are ETERNAL."

2 Corinthians 4 v. 16-18

"He will renew your life & sustain you in your old age."
Ruth 4:15

"Wisdom belongs to the aged."

Job 12:12

"Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh & flourishing, to declare that the Lord is upright..."

YES!!

Psalm 92 v. 13-15

& here is our charge.

"...I must tell the next generation about your power & greatness!"

Psalm 71:18

So many promises, proclamations, & even a mandate. 

The sunsets may last for a season, but joy comes in the morning, the sunrises. & joy even comes in the mourning. Sunset, sunrise.

The sun also rises.

AND....

The SON also rises.

Raintree Perk of the day:

"He that began a good work in you (us) will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:6

No matter what our age, until we're called home, Jesus is so loving & faithful & deserves our humble gratitude & love forever...