From Diapers to Depends

Yep, that’s Litl’ Freddy 38 years ago (delusional dyslexia), grateful I’m not yet clipping Depends coupons to redeem 😊 . . .  and here’s a sketch of Ole’ Freddy today . . .

Notice any changes other than the hat covering the shiny bald patch on my noggin’? 😊

Before snuggling under the covers tonight, I opened to Ecclesiastes in His-Story Book and re-read my history on the planet.  Traditionally authored by the wisest man on earth, King Solomon once scripted each of our personal life’s journeys in Ecclesiastes 3:1-13:

“There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under the heavens:

a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal

,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace.

What do workers gain from their toil?

I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race.

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

 I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.

 That each of them may eat and drink and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.”

“a time to ______ and a time to ______”. Been There/Done That! . . .  save one, “…a time to die…”.  Kinda’ morbid? In no way!  The average lifespan of an American male today is 78.39 years. I’m nearly 5 years past due being earthworm food😊 Perhaps it’s because “Only the good die young”, or I serve as a Good/Bad example of what not to do for others😊 . . . some 2,000 years ago Jesus willing died to conquer death for all who know Him . . .  my last breath here will become my first breath forever inhaling Eternity with Him and all of His.

So this BDay finds ole’ Freddy’s thankful he still not having to slip into Depends, rejoicing in this life’s “gifts of God” I’ve been so undeservedly and graciously blessed with each of my 30,378 days over the past 83 years.

PS – Uncertainty is a certainty of life, but the “gift of God” is an absolute certainty in His time . . . for instance:

It began with a fall yesterday. Sans tangible gifts, but cloaked with intangible ones, yesterday’s birthday proved to be one of my most rewarding.

My wife passed out, fell, and broke her arm (of course it wasn’t the one she broke last summer . . . . . . Argggggh! ☹) At the hospital she passed out again, and then yet again, qualifying her for an overnight stay in the hospital’s Critical Care Unit for observation.

Shortly after returning home past midnight, my cell phone suddenly rang  . . . 1:30 AM phone calls seldom conjure up positive thoughts. A doctor informed me Ellen had experienced additional asystole incidents, and they were transporting her to the Operating Room to implant a pacemaker . . . sleep eluded me.

I drift off to sleep tonight grateful that Ellen’s ticker is back on a rhythmic pace due to a ‘coincidental’ fall which ‘coincidentally’ placed us at a hospital.

“No one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end“, and “a time to heal – laugh – dance – embrace – mend” has returned😊. . . “gifts of God”

Keep Looking Up ^ . . . His Best is Yet to Come!