“MOTHER TIME,” A Poem by Lorilyn Roberts

Mother Time

Someone once said

Old is

When you can’t find your glasses

When you receive your invitation to join AARP

When you cash your first Social Security check

When you kiss your first grandchild

When you apply for Medicare

When you need a knee replacement

When you forget how old you are

When your family won’t let you renew your driver’s license

When you’ve had more colonoscopies than you can count

When your teeth fall out

But

I say

Old is

When I no longer find beauty in God’s creation

I forget to say thank you

Bitterness consumes me

Children bother me

People annoy me

Animals shun me

Morning, noon, and night I complain

I think I am always right

I no longer pray

read my Bible

or care

about

You

Dear Lord
Before I am old

Spare my friends

My family

My children

Call me home

So I may

Not

Shame

You

Help me

To stay young

With

Bonds that never break
Belly ache laughter

Compassion like Jesus

Creativity

Hope that endures

Charity

Forgiveness times seventy

Sacrifice beyond measure

Love for You

As ageless as

Mother Time

BIBLE PASSAGES TO ENCOURAGE YOU TODAY

J



Job 12:7 But ask the animals and they will teach you,
Or the birds of the air, and they will tell you
Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you,
Or let the fish of the sea inform you.
Which of all these does not know
That the hand of the Lord has done this?
In his hand is the life of every creature
And the breath of all mankind.

Psalm 103:4-5 Who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Psalm 40:2-3 He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.

Romans 8:22-24 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved.

Philippians 4:8-9 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Genesis 2:7 The Lord formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

Isaiah 11:6-9 The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper’s next. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.