You're Not Too Old!

God is always speaking. But it's funny to me when I hear Him in the places I don't expect. Like the dentist's office.

I really like my dentist. I've only had a few visits there, but he recognizes me as soon as I walk in and gives me a big smile. We always joke and talk and have even gotten to know each other a little bit, despite the brevity of my time there. 

This past week, I went in for a follow up visit. I was experiencing pain when chewing on one of my molars. After inspecting it he said, "I suspect it has something to do with your bite/alignment. I'll try a little temporary solution right now to ease it, but I'm always more in favor of long term solutions." He went on to talk about my cross-bite and if I had ever heard of something called Invisaligns (braces).

I chuckled and said, "Oh yes, I know about Invisaligns. Both my teenagers have been wearing them for about 2 years now. But aren't I too old to be thinking about that? I'm an adult now. I had retainers back when I was a kid. But they just didn't work for me because I would grind my teeth at night, which caused horrible pain and would force me to pull them out all the time. I was just too young to handle the process."

I'm telling you, if the dentist was sitting down at that moment, he probably would have leapt to his feet. "You're not too old!" he emphatically exclaimed. "And if it's going to help you long term, this is a really good present day solution for you!"

"Wow, ok, yeah." I said slowly, his perspective giving me some food for thought. Braces had no longer been an option in my mind because I thought I missed my chance at them. He got me thinking about it for the first time in decades. 

But then I had questions for him...

"So, I'm a vocalist." I said. 

He looked at me oddly. "A what?" 

"Oh, I, I sing. I'm a singer. And I teach music lessons to children. And I'm wondering if I were to expand the top of my mouth if that will change my sound?"

"Oh! You teach music lessons! I've always wanted to learn music as a child but never got to. But I'm too old for it now. I missed my chance."

And now it was my turn to leap out of my chair. "You're not too old!" I emphatically exclaimed. "You would do great!"

"You think so?" he said with the tone of a hopeful child in his voice.

"Why sure!" I encouraged him again. "It's not too late!"

He chuckled as he looked away giving it thought for the first time in decades. "Well, he said, if I decide to try it, I'll give you a call!"

***

I left that day thinking how often so many of us tap out in life. We write ourselves off. We push options clear off the table for ourselves. And what is our reasoning? We're just too old.

Just when did we put a cutoff on living life?? I guess I can point to society's thinking. It seems if we can't accomplish all our goals by the time we enter our 30's (or for some our 40's, if we're pushing it 50's), we may as well forget about it. We missed the boat. So we step aside. We stop dreaming. 

What's funny is that God doesn't think this way at all. In fact, He thinks the opposite way, actually. Just look at the stories in the Bible. He's all about the long term process, not the quick rise to success. Moses was hidden on the backside of a desert for 40 years. He was OLD when God had something new and exciting for Him. His biggest assignment was still before him!! And Abraham and Sarah were old as dirt! And there they were celebrating their 100th birthday when their promised son was celebrating his first! haha! God has such a sense of humor! 

Sometimes, all it takes for us to shake ourselves from this silly thinking is for someone to come along with some fresh perspective. We need to be told that we're not too old to finish the race. We're not too old to do what God has been prepping us for this whole time, in fact! 

So shake off this worldly thinking. Stop putting a limit on things because of your age. If God is telling you to do something, know that He's perfectly timed it. 

You're not too old! 

photo credit: http://clipart-library.com/