Greetings!: Time Passes On

Saturday, December 3, 2016

Time Passes On

The Wise Family

We often joke about how one knows when he or she is getting old. Sometimes the answers are funny, but sometimes they are so true.
I realized again this week how old I am getting when I received word that my Aunt Ethel had died. After many years in a nursing home and in her 90's, she passed away peacefully in her sleep last week. Another family member gone.
There were seven children in my mother's family and with their spouses the Wise clan included a total of 14 of my uncles and aunts. Now there is only one left. That is my Aunt Marge who will celebrate her 90th birthday tomorrow. She is a daughter-in-law. Mother's brothers and sisters have all passed on. And while there are many cousins still remaining, some of whom are older than I am, it's hard to believe that my mother's Wise family is almost gone. Where have the years gone?
On Wednesday of this week I received a call from my Uncle John in Wisconsin. He is remarkably well with a sharp mind and will celebrate his 98th birthday later this month. He called to see how we were doing. He is a son-in-law on the Wolf/Kauffman side of our family where there were four siblings and four spouses. The four brothers and sisters are now all in heaven. He is the only one remaining out of the eight. And I am the oldest of the cousins. If I outlive Uncle John, I will be the oldest left in the extended family. That makes me feel even older.
So out of 24 brothers and sisters and spouses, only two remain and they are both in-laws. And out of a combined 23 cousins, 19 are still alive.
Now I add to that the physical challenges I have been facing. There have been three major surgeries and two additional hospitalizations in the last year and a half. This year there were also 36 sessions of cardiac rehab and 20 of physical therapy. And now I am encountering a rare blood disorder with little improvement. Now I'm not complaining since the Lord is in control, but I would have never thought of such encounters years ago. But it is part of the normal aging process whether you expect it or not even if your life has generally been free of serious physical problems as mine has been.
But believe me, if you are young, you too will one day reach a point where you will face similar situations and you will wonder where the years have gone. Time passes so quickly and the challenges mount up so unexpectedly. When we were young we never thought about days when we would have trouble walking or taking care of ourselves. We never thought about hospitalizations and nursing homes. We never thought about funerals for our loved ones. We never thought about the lonely days of being a senior or being dependent on others. These things would never happen to us. But somehow they did. We thought that they only happened to "old folks" and maybe we were more right than we realized at that time.
But the senior years would be so much tougher if you didn't know Jesus and have a relationship with Him. The knowledge that He cares for you and is always with you is what can keep you going. The assurance that He has a plan for your life which eventually includes a home with Him in heaven is the hope that gets you through the challenging days. I can't imagine facing these years and challenges without Him.
So as I leave the Thanksgiving season and head for a wonderful Christmas season, I have been spending time recalling the great years I had with my grandparents, uncles and aunts, parents, cousins and friends. Blessed memories. But I'm thankful that I still can have great days with my relatives and with my children and grandchildren and friends. God has been so good to me and I know He will continue to be faithful in the years and challenges that are still to come. Things may change, but He won't.
I pray that you can say the same. Great is His faithfulness!