ART & POETRY BY KATHY BOECHER

Fairy tales can come true – it can happen to you, if you’re young at heart … Old, blue eyes, Frank Sinatra made that dream seem possible when he released “Young at Heart” in 1963. It was the same year that Camelot fell, and President Kennedy was assassinated.  I was only 21 and just at the beginning of my life’s adventure.  In less than a year I would marry my Prince Charming and live happily ever after. 

Youth is really overrated.  Those early years are filled with all kinds of new ideas, hopes and dreams.  It takes years of time, struggle, building, breaking, rebuilding and the love of God to become mature.  By the time you’ve reached the golden years, you’re not only falling apart, but the world also assumes you’re too old to contribute much of anything.  I suppose, if Washington has its way, anyone over 70 will soon be on the endangered list.

One thing I’ve learned over the years, is that we can’t change God’s plan for our life.  We can try to alter it in some way, but He’s in control.  To many that doesn’t seem right.  We should be masters of our own domain, right?  To those of us who have chosen to put our lives in God’s hands, it is not only a comfort, but the best possible place we could be.  I’m not the woman I was at 21, but one who knows we are creatures of our environment, relationships and most of all the plan God has designed for us. Knowing this, we can be confident of eternal life – a life that will never fall apart, ache, suffer or be sad – a perfect life that will last forever.  Jesus made that possible!

Sweet memories drift through the crevices within my brain,

Stored treasures from my youth come forth with such a loud refrain,

I sometimes think no mountain is too tall,

and then I stumble and I fall,

The bumps along the road will not deter me,

I will not cave to age and feeble fears,

I may not have the strength or hope to save me,

But I have someone drying all my tears,

Though life may quickly run its fitful race,

The Lord is right there dying in my place,

He lifts me up when I grow weary – carries me when I grow weak,

He clears the way though dark and dreary – even when it seems too bleak,

Life can last until a hundred, but our minds revert to things long passed,

Childish thoughts and empty wishes, stay with us until our last, 

On my heart the words are written. I will speak them with my tongue,

Jesus lives and I’ll remain – after death – forever young.