Gray Hairs and Grace

 

I looked in the mirror this morning, and those silver streaks peeked back at me.  Oh how I once hated those.  Gray hairs, the confirmation of aging, I had hoped would wait a few more years.  But here I am, at 45, with the silvery streaks, along with other well worn signs of againg.  

I no longer detest these signs.  I've been given longer to trod this earth than many.  Through these years, I've seen and done quite a bit--some good, some bad, some mediocre.  I've earned the marks of aging.  It is solely by God's grace that I've made it this far.  Left to my own devices, I'd have been gone many years ago.  

As my temples turn one day at a time from the medium brown with reddish highlights to the silvery strands we call gray, I at times look back and replay memories.  Those days of young adulthood when a road trip on the spur of the moment was the highlight, with a cassette of 90's country playing in the car, windows down, and travelling anywhere I felt like, paper atlas book beside me just in case.  Those days are long gone, but the flicker of memory brings a smile.  Then reality returns, and I run the brush through my hair and pull it back away from my face, to prepare for the day.  Oh, I could cover the strands with a coloring dye, but underneath that gray is still there and the root would eventually show its truth.  

I am so thankful for God's grace, how wonderfully He's taken care of me.  For all the things I've been through in life, I never really dreamed I'd make it this far to earn those grays.  He has been so good to me.  As the hymn by Julia Johnston reads:  

 "Grace, grace, God's grace,

Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;

Grace, grace, God's grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin!

 Have you found His marvelous grace?  If not, I'd be happy to show you how you can have His grace in your life.  Without His grace, His love, I wouldn't be here.  My family wouldn't be here.  I'm grateful each day for it.