The Joys of getting OLDER!!

**disclaimer** -- could be TMI or too much information!

The joy's of getting older! Well today is the anniversary of my birth. 44 years ago today I was born - the 6th daughter in a family of 8 children. I have 1 sister and 1 brother younger so that makes 8. I have had a pretty good life for the most part. I was raised by a WONDERFUL Mother that is truly THE woman that I look up to the most. She had a tough life married to a man that was, lets say difficult but she did her best and I must say she raised 8 incredible children. All of us are pretty good people if I do say so myself. We all have loving spouses and 5 out of 8 of us have been married for longer then 25 years. My life really took on a very happy time when I met Ray, when I was 12. For the last 26 years of marriage I have had a DREAM of a life. Really wouldn't do-over 1 thing! NO REGRETS!!!

So what I am going to blog about is the joys of getting older. I am going to start with the "joys", when we all know that is a very sarcastic remark! If time permits I will talk about THE JOYS!! Speaking of time that will be the 1st joy that I will speak of - getting older I really have no internal time clock - it's 1:30am and I feel like my evening is just getting started. The house is STONE COLD quiet - well other then the 6 box fans running in every bedroom. I am up, alone. Hannah just went to bed because she has a big day today - her and her boyfriend are off to celebrate their 1st year together at Sea World. We personally think they have a lot to celebrate because we all know that the 1st yr. of anything is the toughest. OH HOW EXCITING and I think that is what got me reflecting on what I am going to share. So if at the end you would like to blame someone, blame Hannah and Austin.

Which by the way I would love to write a few sentences (HA) about how proud I am of both of them. Hannah waited for just the right fellow to come along, her very 1st boyfriend and the Lord brought her a very special guy, Austin. Some that know our family know that the whole boyfriend/girlfriend isn't taken lightly around here. You really must earn our daughters hand to date them. Austin has done that and then some. I have seen this young man really transform into a man before our eyes. He is the most caring, encouraging, doting, loving fellow to his girl that I have met, since Ray. Ray and I love seeing relationship grow and flourish. The wonderful thing about the Lord is our relationship with Him and with our loved 1's - never should stop growing. To see how much they have grown in just 1 year has been a testimony only to God. They also both lead each other to Jesus in so many ways. This has been the easiest year for Ray and I in being here for the 2 of them. They go to each other and to the Lord to figure out things and we just stand back and marvel. Hannah couldn't be a better girlfriend to him if she tried and I just love to see them together. They have kept a pure relationship before the Lord and HE is guiding it just the way HE wants. I don't know what the future holds but the Lord does and we will keep it in His hands. We also all ADORE him and his whole entire family!! It has been PURE JOY to get to know them all. SO, HAPPY 1st year together Hannah and Austin--it IS a big accomplishment and worth celebrating. You 2 are a true reflection of Jesus' love to each other.

So back to what I was talking about - wait, I forgot - OH THE JOY!!! HA! Anyway, I talked to my almost 79 yrs. old precious Mother today and we both, while laughing, came up with this conclusion.... WHY when we are younger/teenagers - do we want to get older? Then... comes Teddi pushing the baby carriage... those years with 5 children go on for a long time - lets talk about the pregnancies -- roughly, 1,350 days or 45 months or 3.75 YEARS of being pregnant. That's just the pregnancies - don't get me started on nursing, changing diapers, teething, training, potty training, and on and on and on. Forget that I homeschooled them ALL! SO, we came to the conclusion that we have our child hood - then we hit adulthood and family stuff comes - then they get grown or are close to it and stuff in our body starts to change. The gray hair, the unwanted hairs, the thinning hair, the unwanted spots, the unbalanced hormones, the weight gain, the wrinkles, the insomnia, the not being able to see close and all the other things that my daughters would kill me if I discussed.

These are some of the joys of getting older. I have 5 older sisters as I mentioned and they are every single 1 of them some of the most wonderful women and mothers. The great, funny, comforting thing is - we are all going through this "getting older" thing together. It's quite funny to hear our conversations now. Not so many years ago we were talking about our babies and now we are talking about what progesterone cream works for them, what vitamins we should be taking, helping each other wash that GRAY out of our hair, what strength each others bifocals are and so many other things. I am SO grateful to have them because I can call any of them and they know what I am going through even if our symptoms aren't the same. To have 8 close sisters (including my sister-in-law, even though she isn't 40 yet and probably can still do a backwards handspring, but we all still LOVE her and know her time is coming - HA!!) the most awesome thing is - what 1 hasn't experienced, the other 1 has. I love that my girls have each other and will always have each other!!

Back to the point if there is 1. My 2nd sister, "the college grad", and she is very intelligent even though for the life of me I can't teach her photoshop,(ssshh, she's over 50) HA! She has been the most help to me. We haven't had a ton of convos about it all but 1 of the wise words of advice - that I probably run through my head every other day, she said, "Teddi, you just have to laugh about it"! Simple wisdom, aah, just what I needed. I need to remember when the hot flashes come, just laugh about it. Another beauty of "getting older" is the time will come that we will have A LOT more time to learn photoshop and many other interests we all have. But of all the blessings that I wouldn't give a $1,000,000 for -- it is having the most supportive husband that will sit and read a book about women being per-menopausal. He will laugh with me and he tells me every single time I have a new thing come up in the aging process. He says - I'm gonna love you till your last breath or mine, I don't care about anything but YOU! He is a rare gem out there and I think we will do just fine through this joyous time of aging. I see now why people say your 50's are so wonderful because you have the children birthed, the children raised, the children married (maybe) and then the JOYS of grandparenting which will make ALL of this worth while!! I can't wait for those days!! I have to see that this is just part of it. I can pray for this to be an easy transition, and I do but what comes my way WILL make me stronger because I am determined for it not to get the BEST of me!!

Happy Birthday to me! I am grateful to GOD for my health, even for the changing of the "seasons of my life", for my FAMILY, for my children, for my husband but especially for Jesus - without Him I could have done nothing that I have done in the 1st 44 years of my life. I am so grateful to have been born to Christian parents that raised me to love Jesus and then to have grown up to serve that Jesus. Then to have a husband to walk this journey of life WITH, 5 amazing children that all LIVE for the LORD! It's been a wonderful, wonderful life. So the joys of my life FAR outweigh the "joys" of getting older. I have so many more things to do in this life of mine and I can hardly wait. 1 thing that comes with age is learning to be patient and I think I am doing pretty good with that 1. So today my husband will shower me with love and he will make the day ALL about me. He will plan secrets along the day and he will wait on me hand and foot. Because I expect it, nope, because he is just that wonderful, he is just that cherishing and he is just that selfless. It will be a wonderful day and I can only hope and pray that everyone will have 1/2 the great life that I have had. So daughters of mine and ALL the bonus daughters - enjoy EVERY season of your life. I've said it before, it goes SO FAST! Make every opportunity count, for eternity! See life's challenges and with God - conquer them. It is worth it ALL to serve such a great and mighty God. He created each and every 1 of us SO different and wonderful. Love yourself because He loves you SO, SO, SO much! You couldn't be any more precious in His eyes then you are this VERY second. Serve Him with EVERYTHING inside of you. It is WORTH IT!!!

If you are over 40 and have any advice or secrets to this joyous time, feel free to share - we ALL need sisters to help each other out. If your under 40, I don't want to hear it! HA, just kidding (not really)! Just enjoy your life, you single ladies and young Mothers - all the seasons are SO SPECIAL in their own right! Also, have mercy on us older people. We were as young and hip as you - once upon a time, heck I think I am still pretty hip! But we had our glory years (I tell my girls I have passed the torch to them) but now we are in our GOLDEN years!!! You will be here sooner then you think so be kind to your older parents - we are usually much wiser then you (I always am, HA!) and as for Ray he will always be much cooler then you! This is about women even though men can for sure chime in but maybe soon we will talk about the changes in men!! HA!! I will dictate some of Ray's thoughts on that because you guys aren't immune to all the fun!! It's all for FUN isn't it, it's all 1 big journey and shouldn't we all enjoy the ride with as much dignity and worth and humor that we can find?!?! Thank God He has a sense a humor - just look around - He does, trust me!!!

Thank you Lord for another WONDERFUL, AMAZING, BLESSED and JOYOUS year of LIFE!

P.S. -- 1 praise report that I didn't share is that I AM proudly 44 and I still don't need Grandma glasses. I am very PROUD of that - my arm is still long enough to stretch out for me to see things (if your over 40 you understand). The few times I have needed a little magnification - it was ONLY because the type was much to little, HA. So, I am holding out as long as I can for that 1. Oh course I need glasses to see far so...