Yesterday I met a woman named Anna. She lives in Denver and she's in town visiting my family. She's the mother-in-law of a good friend of my mother's. Follow that? Today her son and daughter went to spend the day with some of his family and she was going to have the afternoon alone, so I decided to spend time with her.
We met over lunch and as I spent the afternoon with this eight-five year old woman I met yesterday, as I listened and got to know her story, I realized the treasure of getting to know someone who has lived so much life. Over pizza we chatted. She told me about her children, her work experiences, about being widowed relatively young, and other personal perceptions she held. (I got to hear some "secrets"... things she says she doesn't really talk about much.) I mostly sat across the table and listened. I'd just simply asked her what she'd like to tell me. But by the end of our time together I realized that she had given me wonderful advice without even knowing it; just by sharing her life with me.
Anna also told me a great story about playing a trick on one of her girlfriends. This other woman, also named Anna, invited Anna over for tea. Once the tea , drank from antique cups was over, the Anna who'd done the inviting made Anna stop cleaning up the tea set for fear that she would break the expensive and now valuable things. Anna, to make a point in what she admitted was somewhat of a mean way, invited the other Anna over the next week for tea. They drank from a tea set that Anna had tucked away in storage that was both older and more expensive than the one the other Anna wouldn't let Anna touch. This story helped me with the reailty of getting old. After hearing stuff like that I don't think getting old is going to be so bad.
This morning as I was getting ready for our lunch date, I prayed that God would prepare me. I didn't know this woman at all and her daughter, well, let's just say she doesn't have the same set of beliefs or faith I do. So I was a little nervous, wondering what I'd encounter with Anna. But I gave that over to the Lord and trusted Him to bless the afternoon regardless of Anna's religious convictions. Toward the end of our conversation I found out that she believes in God. We didn't get deep into conversation about faith, but she told me a brief story about how she believes in the power of prayer; that she knows and believes that God literally saved her life one night when her heart was acting up. To hear her give thanks to God for her life was uplifting and sweet. And for some reason, in the moment she told me that story I was reminded of Psalm 84:10. "Better is one day in your courts than thousands elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked."
Old ladies are great fun – try listening to one if you haven't lately. She will likely make you laugh. And, if you let her, she will help you realize a lot about life that you didn't see that morning when you woke up. Age, they say, is a good teacher. "I wonder what would happen if more "girls" my age " I asked Anna as we parted this afternoon, "spent an afternoon with a woman like you." "Yes." she refelcted, "so do I." Yesterday when I met her I didn't know I'd spend my day with Anna. But what a good day it was. What a great way to be surprised by the Lord!
"This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24
Back in college, in 2004 when blogging was hardly even a thing yet, I was here. Blogging before blogging meant anything to anyone. You can look in the archives for my past writings, but it was much more like a journal in the past. When we started fundraising, I messed around with the idea of launching something new for this new phase of our journey but actually hated that idea. I am a sum of all of my life and so much of it is here already. So I'm keeping it here. At least for now.
My main focus these days is blogging about our newest journey into the bizarre and wonderful world of gestational surrogacy. Posts dated 2013 and forward will trend heavily toward that journey. I don't promise everything I write will be about though. There might be other things that sneak in occasionally.
Please come along our journey with us. As the saying goes, "The more, the merrier!"
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