Aging

I thought I would speak on this subject today. First I want to say it is hard to advance in years. If you live long enough you will also experience this phenomenon.

I don’t consider myself real old yet but already I am experiencing changes in my life. Sometimes I don’t remember things as well as I once did, which is troubling. Another thing is I am not near as strong as I was and most of the time I can only talk about the things I used to be able to do. I have noticed that things I didn’t fear at one time are starting to bother me some. If I am not careful I can get very irritated at things that may not have bothered me so much at one time. Sometimes change seems to be harder than it was when I was younger. As you get older you tend to get pains in places you didn’t have when you were younger. Your bodies start changing and you start noticing wrinkles and your good looks start to fade. When I was young I could sleep through the night without much interruption, but as you age you may be up two or three times in a night just to go to the bathroom. When it is cold you feel it more as you age and it is harder to breath when it is real hot. You can fall into the couch potato syndrome very easily. Doing exercise is much harder and more painful especially if you’re not used to it.

I am not there yet, thank the Lord, but I think of the people in nursing homes. They have been taken from their homes and, in many cases, may not see their loved ones again. It is sort of like the old saying, "Out of sight, out of mind," so they feel rejected and abandoned and many are. It is hard to imagine what these people feel like. I am sure that many of them feel like this is the end and they are just waiting to die feeling death is better than living the way they are at the time. Many aren’t treated very well in nursing homes and they hate it.

You may be thinking older Christians shouldn’t feel this way and you are right but many of these people are not Christians. And even Christians can get down and depressed and feel lonely and unwanted. What they need is compassion, love and patience.

Some of these people can be very grouchy and very negative and extremely hard to work with. In fact it takes a special kind of person to be able to work with some of these people. Many people over the years have not been suitable for this kind of job; stealing, misusing and being very unkind treating some of these people terribly. I know it can be very frustrating at times working with elderly people but we need to remember these are people that Jesus died for and He loves them very much. Believe it or not some people that work in these situations count it a privilege and use it as a ministry and not just a job.

It might sound like I am being hard on some people but that is not my purpose for writing this. What I want to do is help those that are working in these positions to have a better understanding of what older people feel like when they are older and in these situations. You might think of it this way; try to picture yourself getting up one morning, taken from your home and everything you are familiar with and placed in a home with people you know nothing about, how would you feel?

I am not an expert on this subject but I have some hands on experience in this field. Never had a job in a nursing home but I have visited different ones many times and tried to encourage the people. Many of these people have to share the same room with maybe three or four other people. They lose most of their privacy, which is not easy on them. Most of them can’t even eat by themselves because of all the others around them.

I know I have talked about most of the negative things that elderly people experience but for many of them that is all they see and feel. I don’t want to put everyone in the same box, so to speak, because there are many that try to make the best out of their situation. Many seem to be somewhat happy, but far too many aren’t.

Just think if you are in these places as a non-Christian, what hope do you have? They probably feel like they’re wasting away with no purpose whatsoever. What they could use are people with the gift of encouragement, that truly love and don’t just talk about it. People that will reach out with compassion and mercy showing that they have been with Jesus and He has changed their lives. I could go on and on but I think you got the message.

Please don’t let this message be a rebuke or anything negative. It is intended to be an informative message to help you understand many of these things as many elderly people do. I hope this message helps all that read it. Praise the Lord and have a great day.