14 Aug 2026
There was a time in my life when keeping up was part of my daily routine. I started each day with a specific objective, and by the end of the day, I had completed it.
I took pride in completing my work on time. The secret was to plan carefully. Some projects required several days; therefore, I organized them accordingly.
That had been true throughout my life until a very serious enemy came into view and hindered me from finishing some projects. This enemy has been a curse in my life.
Comparing me with The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage, you will discover that she had no such enemy in her life messing with her schedule. If she wanted something done, she completed it on time. I, on the other side of the marriage table, had trouble along these lines, and even though I wanted something done, I never actually got it done when I wanted it.
You might ask what this enemy is. It was something I really never expected in my life, and voilà, there it is. That vicious enemy is “Old Age.” It has snuck up on me without any indication it was coming.
Although The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage is technically two years older than me, she doesn’t have that same enemy messing up her daily schedule. No matter what, she finished a project exactly on time.
When I was younger, I was taught that “Old Age” was chasing me and would catch up sooner than I expected. Laughing, I always pushed it aside and said everybody gets old except me.
I looked at my father and mother and noticed they were getting old. I never really believed that I would actually come face-to-face with “Old Age,” and yet here it was.
Every time I celebrated a birthday, it never occurred to me that it meant I was one year older than the year before. Why do we celebrate birthdays every year? Don’t we realize that your birthday means you’re just older?
Sitting at my desk the other day, I noticed a pile of work I needed to complete. I never realized I had so much to do at my age and it was taking me longer to do it.
I had the superstitious idea that getting older didn’t mean you couldn’t accomplish all that you could years before. I just assumed that celebrating my birthday was just another click on the clock.
My birthday and The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage’s birthday are two days apart. We went to a restaurant to celebrate our birthday like we usually do.
At the restaurant, we told our waitress we were celebrating our birthday. Looking at me, she said, “How does old feel?”
Without even looking at her, I reached across the table, took hold of The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage’s arm and gently squeezed it. Then I looked back at the waitress and said, “It doesn’t feel really that bad.”
The waitress didn’t know whether she should laugh or walk away. Unfortunately, The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage knew exactly what to do, and it wasn’t to laugh. The look she gave me still burns in my head today.
My predicament is trying to get around that stupid remark to the waitress. As long as I have been married, I still have trouble dealing with my stupidity.
Through 55 years of marital bliss, I have worked hard to keep up with The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage. When I think I’ve accomplished it, something happens that sets me back in a remarkable way.
I’m not quite sure how she can keep up with everything. If I knew her secret, maybe I could apply it to my life and get to the place where I’m actually keeping up with everything. However, if I asked her the secret, I’m not exactly sure how she would respond.
Looking back over the years of my life, I think I can say the only place I have actually kept up with everything was my relationship with The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage. The fact that we’ve been married 55 years says quite a lot about both of us.
The secret I have discovered is The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage can fix anything wrong or broken.
About eight years ago, the bumper on my truck broke and was almost dragging on the ground. I had no idea what to do, and as I was looking at it, the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage came out and said, “What’s wrong?”
When I told her, she looked at it for a moment and then said, “I think I know how to fix that. Let me go inside and get something.”
She came out in a few moments with some large paperclips. She looked under the bumper, asked me to hold it up, and then put three paperclips underneath the bumper. That was eight years ago, and those paperclips are still doing their job of keeping the front bumper in place.
If she can’t keep up, nobody else can.
Thinking on this reminded me of a Bible verse. “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:15-16).
I need to be careful each day, live as it pleases the Lord, and focus on what is important. Some things are worth doing, and I need to know the difference.
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