Thinking along this line it occurred to me this month I will be celebrating my birthday. I pondered this for a while and was trying to figure out which birthday I should celebrate.

After all, if it's my birthday, I should be the one to choose which birthday to celebrate. I'm thinking, for example, that this year I'll celebrate my 16th birthday.

On my 16th birthday, I was not in a state to really celebrate it to its fullest. My only concern at that time was I’m old enough to get my driver's license. That's the only thing I was even thinking about. Looking back on that day, I lost a lot of celebration.

So, this year, I might just celebrate my 16th birthday.

Then I think of my 21st birthday. I didn't do very much to celebrate that birthday then. I was just so excited to become an official adult that nothing else really mattered. I didn't have to get my parents' permission to do anything. Oh boy, that was a great day in my life.

I didn't celebrate it to the fullest extent. I was too excited to become an adult, so I didn't do much celebrating.

I'm still in a quandary as to which birthday I should be celebrating this year.

The other morning, I was shaving in the bathroom. As I looked in the mirror, I gasped. Is that my grandfather in the mirror? Or, have I become my grandfather?

Up to this time, I didn't realize how old I really was.

The other day I was in the shopping mall with The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage. When we were there, she would usually go one way, and I would go to the coffee shop to get coffee.

As I was walking to the coffee shop, a bunch of young boys looked at me and started laughing. Finally, one of them said, "Hey, grandpa. Where's your cane?" And then, in hysterical laughter, they ran away from me.

They can be very thankful I didn't have a cane at that time or I would have put it to good use, if you get my drift.

Being a little agitated, I walked, got my coffee and then sat down to drink it. As I was drinking it, I began to realize that at one time in my life, I was like those kids who were making fun of me. I thought my grandfather was just an old geezer. I never knew how he had become so old, but at the time, I wasn't asking him any questions.

A few years ago, I retired, which sent me off on a new direction in life. Certainly I continue much of my ministries but I don't have a schedule to follow. I can do whatever I want, whenever I want, for as long as I want.

The only catch to that was The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage.

She never lets me get away with anything that's rather stupid or crazy. The fact that I'm not that crazy today is a tribute to her oversight. If it wasn't for her I would be the craziest person in town.

Thinking about that, what would be wrong with that?

Several years ago we celebrated our birthdays at a restaurant. Our birthdays are two days apart and also two years apart. I won't go any further than that.

When the waitress approached our table, The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage mentioned we were celebrating our birthdays.

The waitress, trying to be funny, looked at me and said, "So, what does it feel like to be older?"

I smiled at her. Then, I reached across the table and gently squeezed my wife's arm. I looked at the waitress and said, "It feels rather good.""

Both the waitress and I were laughing, but the other person at the table was not laughing at all. It concerned me a little because I wouldn't know what was going to happen until we got home.

Being old has many advantages. I may stumble around and get confused, and people will say, "That's okay. He's just old."

Maybe this year for my birthday I should celebrate the fact that I've lived this long. Both of my grandfathers died when they were 70. This month I will turn 74. So, I've outlived my grandparents. My father, however, lived to be 78. So, I've got four years ahead of me to catch up with my father.

The only thing that really concerns me about getting old is on top of my head. Every year a significant number of hairs retire and go on vacation never to be seen again. I have more hair today than I did when I was born, if that means anything.

Another thing is, the older I get the more my brown hair has been replaced with grey hair. Where do these grey hairs come from?

I then read a verse that gave me some comfort. “The hoary (grey) head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness” (Proverbs 16:31).

If this is true, and it is, my grey hair is my “crown of glory” I never thought of that way, but now I’m going to. The older I get the bigger my “crown of glory.” I’m going to use it to the best of my personal advantage.