Climbing Life's Mountains

They say age is just a number and my number this year is 60. I’ve been dreading this birthday for months and now that it’s here. I’ve come to realize that each day brings me a day closer to retirement and a day closer to the end . . . the end of this life and on to eternity.  Any birthday number that ends in zero, feels like a life changer. When I turned 50, I felt vibrant, healthy, and energetic. We were hiking and checking off some crazy and somewhat dangerous bucket list hikes. But 60 feels different. I still feel healthy, I still have several hikes on my bucket list, but like many people, I am fighting to keep the energy going. Although Ecclesiastes may not be the best book in the Bible to go to on a milestone birthday, it is a book with a few things to say about life, aging, and the end of it all. The verse I want to share is Ecclesiastes 12:1, “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth.”  What does it mean to “Remember your Creator?” It means to know Him, to love H...

Why  Michigan? With all the fabulous places we’ve gone on vacation, Michigan has never been at the top of my list.  So, why did we go there for vacation? Well, for two reasons. #1) Indiana is on the way so we spent our first night at my sister’s house and then we met up with our daughter who took great care of our little boy while we were gone. We are always thankful for a free and reliable dog sitter! We were also able to spend time with our daughter on our way back. #2) Michigan is a state we had never been to and I needed to color it in on my map (yes, I have a map, on the wall, in my craft room). We have 15 more states to go!   So, what did I think of Michigan? Not my #1 vacation spot, that’s for sure. We started the week in Gaylord, Michigan and took the ferry to Mackinac Island. This was the highlight of our trip because we had heard about Mackinac for years and had never been. It was cold that morning on the boat ride but the weather while we were there was...

If you ask me about 2022, the first word that comes to mind is loss.    I lost money in my crypto account. I lost money in my retirement account. I lost a few pounds, and I lost my car in the parking lot, not once but several times. Some losses are small and not important. I can recover from financial losses, I will probably gain the pounds back, and I will eventually find my car in the parking lot. Other losses hurt deep and stay with you forever.   I lost a grandchild in 2022. When our youngest son and daughter-in-law first started talking about children, I didn’t think much about it, telling them not to be in hurry. As time went on, and on, it became apparent that it wasn’t happening. Like so many couples, they started the very expensive and very difficult process of dealing with infertility which finally led them to IVF. With only one fertilized egg, we thought our prayers had been answered and we celebrated the “miracle baby.” I was so excited that eve...