Last year when I turned 65, I felt like I was pretty much still all together. Then it changed… a few weeks down the road…life happened. Smile lines turned into wrinkles, age spots subtly appeared on my hands, my skin began to take on a more translucent hue, and I began feeling more aches here and there (that's not even beginning to address the issue of muscle loss). I used to have arm muscles, but now all of a sudden in their place I have "wings" that swing and swing. I look in the mirror and think "What... is happening?"

Have you ever had one of those days? I had one a few weeks back. A man and his wife who have followed our ministry throughout the years approached us in a restaurant. The gentleman put his face right in front of mine and exclaimed, "Wow. I haven't seen you for over 40 years!" He continued his visual scrutiny and said, "Boy, I would have never recognized you. You sure changed." Then he hesitated in his assessment. Seeing an opportunity to defend myself, I said, "That's what you call aging. That's what you call living life." He shook his head in disbelief and added a final comment, "Well, I suppose if we live long enough, it will happen to all of us."

No doubt, it was a missile attack on my self-confidence. Because I was having a good day and contained enough God-confidence and "dumb"-sense, I was able to laugh off the entire exchange. I thought to myself, "Hey, I'm only approaching 66 years old. Hold on…what will you say 10, 20 or even 30 years from now? This is the best I will ever look." Well, maybe we shouldn't go there! HA!

On the serious side of things, each of us are going to encounter times of discouragement whether it derives from a lack of self-confidence due to our appearance, age, weight…you fill in the blank. The other day I called a long time friend who is one year older than me to wish her a "Happy Birthday". Sarcastically she snapped, "What's so happy about it?" Without hesitation I responded, "You had the privilege of waking up today. Do you know how many thousands of people would have given anything or paid any amount of money if they could have just beaten the cancer, reversed the heart disease, escaped the tragic car accident, or spared the life of their precious baby that died in their arms? How many of our military would have loved the opportunity to be able to fly home in First Class to see their families once again rather than be in a coffin in the belly of the plane?"

There was a deafening silence as my words spoke truth to her. In a muted apologetic tone she responded, "You're right. I really don't have anything to complain about."

Sad to say, we have gotten accustomed to a negative-driven society. We have forgotten the blessings that we do have, and instead, focus on the negatives around us. The Bible says our days are numbered and only God knows the number of days each one of us has to live.

If you are going through a troubled time of discouragement, low self-worth, or trials, I encourage you to begin to praise God for His faithfulness to you. He will remain faithful to you until the end. Thank Him for each morning that you are able to awaken in your own home, put your feet on the floor, take a step, and breathe without the assistance of an oxygen tank.

Please let me leave you one of my favorite verses of encouragement Psalm 46:1, "God is our refuge and strength (note..He didn't say He would think about it or considerate it, He says He IS), a very present help in trouble." Those words "a very present help" means now…right now. No matter what you are facing today, thank God for His gift of life.

"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift that's why we call it the present."

- Gloria