{"id":406,"date":"2014-08-31T17:03:54","date_gmt":"2014-08-31T22:03:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=406"},"modified":"2014-09-06T17:18:18","modified_gmt":"2014-09-06T22:18:18","slug":"twenty-five-and-holding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=406","title":{"rendered":"Twenty-Five And Holding"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cHe 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.\u201d Ecclesiastes 3:11 NIV<\/em><\/p>\n

I was a young woman when I learned how it is with old people. My cousin Gracie taught me. We used to write letters to one another, just newsy little correspondence to keep up – something to look forward to in the mail. Gracie lived in Pineville, Louisiana, and she had a large yard with a garden that she loved. She wrote about her planting and cooking and friends and family. One day her letter said she still felt like a young woman in her twenties, and she never stopping being surprised at her aging body. She was in her seventies then.<\/p>\n

Since then many, many old people have reinforced that theme to me. My own father – during his last days – smiled, eyes shut, and said, \u201cI\u2019m going to be a young man again.\u201d As for me, I sat in the hip beauty salon I patronize and thought about how all the youngsters probably dismissed me as one of the older crowd. They\u2019d have no way to know I\u2019m still twenty-five on the inside. If I try to kick the inevitable can down the road and don\u2019t \u201cact my age\u201d, I\u2019m a pretender. Fun maybe, but certainly not authentic. The longer one carries on such a masquerade, the more grotesque it becomes. Youthfulness and immaturity are two very different behaviors.<\/p>\n

People have been searching for the Fountain of Youth for a long, long time. One of my fond childhood memories is passing through St. Augustine, Florida, on family vacation and visiting the tourist attraction memorializing Ponce de Leon\u2019s Fountain of Youth. Some believed there was a spring in the New World with waters so ethereal wood did not even float in them. Supposedly people who bathed in these waters lived to be 120 years old and had skin so supple it appeared to have been rubbed with oil. They had the dew of youth (Psalm 110:3).<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no question living in a cursed world roughs up a body over time. As my Aunt Mabel and many others have said, \u201cGetting old is Hell.\u201d I won\u2019t rebut that statement because the days are evil (Ephesians 5:16). But we do have some assurance of benefits from the Lord that help our physical bodies. It is the Lord \u201cWho satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed liked the eagle\u2019s.\u201d (Psalm 103:5) The Hebrew word translated \u201cmouth\u201d carries the meaning ornament. Could the Psalmist have been thinking of our physical selves? Of these \u201cornaments\u201d with which we are adorned?<\/p>\n

Paul wrote some interesting thoughts to the Romans, a culture not that different than ours. \u201cAnd if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.\u201d (Romans 8:10-11) Okay. You can consider this body to be dead already, even though you\u2019re still making use of it. The Spirit inside you, though, He is Life with a Capital L. And you have a promise His life can enliven your physical self. New Life isn\u2019t just for Resurrection Morning. Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life. (John 11:25)<\/p>\n

We have found the Fountain of Youth. Embrace it and never die. (John 11:26). We are the eternal ones.<\/p>\n

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing Thy grace
\n<\/em>Streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for shouts of loudest praise
\n<\/em>Teach me some melodious sonnet sung by flaming tongues above
\n<\/em>Praise the mount, I\u2019m fixed upon it
\n<\/em>Mount of Thy redeeming love<\/em><\/p>\n

O, to grace, how great a debtor daily I\u2019m constrained to be
\n<\/em>Let Thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to Thee
\n<\/em>Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love
\n<\/em>Here\u2019s my heart, Lord, take and seal it
\n<\/em>Seal it for Thy courts above<\/em><\/p>\n

Come Thou Fount, come Thou King, come Thou precious Prince of Peace
\n<\/em>Hear your bride, to You we sing; come Thou Fount of our blessing
\n<\/em>Come Thou Fount, come Thou King, come Thou precious Prince of Peace
\n<\/em>Hear your bride, to You we sing; come Thou Fount of our blessing<\/em><\/p>\n

Happy days to all who are twenty-five and holding. Go with God!<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Melissa Kay Simonds<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cHe 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.\u201d Ecclesiastes 3:11 NIV I was a young woman when I … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8Mo02-6y","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":437,"url":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=437","url_meta":{"origin":406,"position":0},"title":"Stella!","author":"lsimonds","date":"January 1, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cThis is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.\u201d John 6:39 About a year and a half ago, against good judgment, I adopted a black and white Pomeranian out\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2015"","block_context":{"text":"2015","link":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?cat=13"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1556,"url":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=1556","url_meta":{"origin":406,"position":1},"title":"In Search of Je Ne Sais Quoi","author":"lsimonds","date":"December 1, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"First and foremost, my heartfelt thanks to Blake Kimzey and Writing Workshops Dallas for inviting me to post on the WWD blog, where this appeared on November 30, 2020 My second novel, Stork Bite, released in November 2020, after eight years of working and reworking it. I had wanted to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2020"","block_context":{"text":"2020","link":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?cat=20"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":892,"url":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=892","url_meta":{"origin":406,"position":2},"title":"A Writer’s Womb","author":"lsimonds","date":"July 31, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"INTERVIEWER You start with a character in mind. Does that character change as you go along? Take\u00a0Sophie\u2019s Choice for example. \u00a0 STYRON There\u2019s a scene near the beginning of\u00a0Sophie\u2019s Choice\u00a0about Sophie\u2019s childhood in Poland, and she begins to talk about her father. I was trying to establish her personality through\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2017"","block_context":{"text":"2017","link":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?cat=17"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":71,"url":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=71","url_meta":{"origin":406,"position":3},"title":"Don’t Fake Faith","author":"lsimonds","date":"October 1, 2002","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cBut when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, \u2018Lord, save me!\u2019\u201d Matthew 14:30 Not too long ago, I heard about a woman who was diagnosed with kidney disease among about a dozen other ailments. The doctor recommended dialysis.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2002"","block_context":{"text":"2002","link":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":829,"url":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=829","url_meta":{"origin":406,"position":4},"title":"Love The One You’re With","author":"lsimonds","date":"March 31, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Tribe. n.\u00a0a group of persons having a common character, occupation, or interest \"If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.\" Romans 12:18 ESV I recently enjoyed the company of a three year old for\u00a0a few days\u2014the daughter of good friends. 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