Young at Heart

This last weekend I had the pleasure of going on a one night retreat to an area about 1 1/2 hours outside of San Jose with the ladies from our school. The theme of the retreat was "You are His Stars" and each of us was treated like stars during the day we were at the retreat with chocolate, star name tags, people to pray for us, and some wonderful messages from Marge, our speaker.

When we went there I was starting to feel a bit tired and worn out from the daily trips to school, continual studying, and feeling like I was moving at a snail's pace learning Spanish. I guess some people would call it a slump, but as I get closer and closer to the big 4-0 I think at times that maybe I am just feeling my age. Then I went on this retreat. They had fun games for us to play including one where we all lined up around the room according to our ages. I felt a little bummed as I looked around the room and realized that I was in the older 1/3 of the 70 or so women that came to the retreat.

During the retreat we were given a couple of hours to enjoy the pool and the big water slide. Because I recently dyed my hair back to it's original color of brown, (don't ask me about the "zanahoria/ orange" color I had been sporting for 5 months through an early miscommunication with a Tica hairdresser) and I didn't think it wise to get in the pool, but I enjoyed watching other ladies go flying down the slide squealing the whole way. The funny thing about the slide and the pool was that the ladies most represented were the women in the 50 something category. While me and my 30 something friends were staying a safe distance from the water, the 50 something "red hat" ladies were having a blast in the pool, doing water ballet, playing chicken, and acting like little school girls.

As I watched them frolick in the water I realized that they might be older than me, but what a blessing it was to see that these ladies were truly young at heart. And so I left the retreat renewed in my spirit with perhaps a lighter and younger heart than when I came.

Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

- Psalm 103:2-5