Benefits of Getting Older

As I turn 39, many people make jokes about really being a younger age. However, when I think about the benefits of getting older, I cannot help but welcome every year that comes about. Here are a few of the benefits I feel getting older brings:

* Every year that goes by, I will have another year of wonderful memories with my beautiful wife. To be younger would mean that I would not have the memories of the past that made us stronger, wiser and better together.

* Every year that goes by, I will have another year of knowledge that I would not have had if I were younger. As the years go by, I learn more about my faith, my family and my life. To trade this, because of years gained would be a travesty to my social, emotional and spiritual development.

* Every year that goes by, I feel like my relationship with Christ grows beyond that of the year before. I learn more about my frailties, my weaknesses and even my strengths. Every year that goes by, I fall more and more in love with Jesus, to be younger would reverse that of what I am experiencing today.

* Every year that goes by, means that I am closer to being in Heaven with the family that I have lost, and the Heavenly Father who created me.

I am so thankful for every year that goes by and I am so thankful for getting older. Although our vanity can come in the way because we start to get wrinkles on the perfect skin we once had, the stretch marks start to appear because of the weight that we have gained, and our bodies might not be as athletic as they once were. I cannot help but think about all of those things as a benefit, rather than a hindrance to my personal, spiritual and emotional growth.