Some people just don’t get it. Here’s an example of what I’m talking about:   After dinner on Mother’s Day a mother was washing the dishes when her teenage daughter wandered into the kitchen. Horrified to see her mother at the sink, she exclaimed, “Oh, Mama, you shouldn’t have to do dishes on Mother’s Day.” The mother was touched by this seeming thoughtfulness and was about to take off her apron and give it to her daughter when the daughter added,” They’ll keep till tomorrow.” Sadly, that’s about as far as some go when it comes to honoring their mother. All they think about is what mom can do for them. They think it unreasonable to reciprocate. They are like the little girl who was looking at a picture of her mom and dad on their wedding day. She asked her father,”Daddy, is that the day you got mom to come to work for us?”   The wonder of it all is that mothers love them anyway! You’ve got to admit–Mother’s are amazing!

The following story is about a mother, but it has a very powerful message for all of us:

A widow whose children had left her one by one to go to the “new country” (as she called it) heard each of them promise to save money and to send for her “very soon.” Time passed; the children married and had children, but no mention came of sending for the old mother. She longed to see them, but thinking they lacked the means, she saved up enough money herself to pay them a surprise visit. But, her reception was the reverse of what she had fondly anticipated. Her children, who had prospered, seemed annoyed at their mother’s coming, criticized her old-fashioned dress and speech, and had no room for her. The disappointed woman came back and entered a home for the aged, where she proved a blessing to all about her, shedding on those around her the love that her own children had rejected. No bitterness remained in the heart of the aged saint. “It seems to me that I knew what our Lord suffered,” she told a friend, “when He came to His own dear people and they gave Him the cold shoulder. Just think! He came unto His own and His own received Him not! I can understand how that wounded His loving heart.” Yet she could praise God for the experience since it drew her closer to her Savior and made her more compassionate toward others. (copied)

Sometimes we just have to make the best of a bad situation.We can’t control what others do, but we can choose our response. And, we are responsible for our response. It is always our duty to demonstrate Christ-like love. When we do everyone benefits.

“They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing.”–Psalm 92:14   I have often said, “Old age ain’t for sissies!” Life is tough and it gets tougher each passing year. Sadly, many folks get discouraged and waste away the last years of life. The following story from Senior Living gives us some good advice:

There’s a story about a young mother who died giving birth to her third child. No one in the family was willing to take care of the three little girls, except their great-grandmother who came forward without hesitation. When she took them into her home, she was 83 years old. By God’s grace, she lived another 16 years before passing on at the age of 99-long enough to parent each of the young girls into their teenage years and early 20s.

This is an amazing and inspiring example of the reality of retirement. After retirement, there is more to life than golf, easy chairs, your favorite daily television shows, and boredom. People today are living longer than ever before and it is estimated that by 2030 there will be more people over the age of 65 than those who are under the age of 18.

Almost two million people retire every year, leaving many people freed up to perform acts of kindness for others. Contributing to their long lives is good health, financial stability, and life experiences. As a result, many senior adults are ready and looking for challenging and meaningful pursuits in their older age.

You may not be in a situation like the one mentioned above, but there are some things you can do as a Christian senior adult. You are called to always be a prayer warrior for the people in your life (Ephesians 6:18), and retirement provides more time for this type of thing as well as volunteering your time in your church or neighborhood. Decide that you are going to be a blessing to others who need it. When you begin to creatively use your time, God will bring blessing into your life (Hosea 10:12).

Pray that the Lord would make you a blessing in someone’s life today through giving of your time, your talents, and your prayers

“He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” (Micah 6:8).

What does GOD expect us to do? He tells us here. What He said to all men everywhere must, by faith, be applied to us in particular.

Through the pages of the Bible, GOD speaks to me. Observe that GOD doesn’t require us to pay for the pardon of our sin, but He requires us to do what is good. Agreeable to the eternal rule and reason of good and evil, the good required of us has a direct tendency to our own good. And so, “in keeping God’s commandments there is a great reward” for the present as well as for the future.

Doing our duty is the good GOD requires of us. He said, “Do justly,” that is, do what is right to all people – wrong no one. “Love mercy,” that is, be kind to all people.

We must not only show mercy but also love mercy; we must be glad of an opportunity to do good and then do it cheerfully. Since God delights in showing mercy to us, shouldn’t we love to show mercy? We must “walk humbly” with our GOD. In the whole course of our lives, we must conform ourselves to the will of GOD and study to approve ourselves to Him. We must humbly submit our minds to the truths of GOD; we must submit our will to His Word and providences; we must humble ourselves to walk with GOD.

Every thought must be brought into obedience to GOD.

In GOD’s sight, justice, mercy, and humility are more than all burnt-offerings and sacrifices. Our most costly services are vain oblations unless we do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our GOD. (Matthew Henry)

“Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.”–Proverbs 27:17   The following quote by Phillip Brooks reminds us of how greatly we affect others–let it then be for the good:   Certainly, in our own little sphere it is not the most active people to whom we owe the most. Among the common people whom we know, it is not necessarily those who are busiest, not those who, meteor-like, are ever on the rush after some visible charge and work. It is the lives, like the stars, which simply pour down on us the calm light of their bright and faithful being, up to which we look and out of which we gather the deepest calm and courage. It seems to me that there is reassurance here for many of us who seem to have no chance for active usefulness. We can do nothing for our fellow-men. But still it is good to know that we can be something for them; to know (and this we may know surely) that no man or woman of the humblest sort can really be strong, gentle, pure, and good, without the world being better for it, without somebody being helped and comforted by the very existence of that goodness.