In a Room Full of Gray Haired Women

I have recently started attending a community bible study. I was placed in a class with “older” women, which did not surprise me. What did surprise me was that my young friend Melissa was there. As I looked around the class of 15 or so women, I noticed that 10 of us had gray hair and all of us had bi-focals (except for my young friend).  I was thrilled to see so many with natural hair, but even more than that, I was curious as to why someone so young would be in that class? Wouldn’t she feel out of place?

As I watched her I realized that she either didn’t notice she was in a room full of old women, or she just didn’t care. Or was it that she allowed God to place her where He wanted her to be?

1 Timothy 5:2 tells us that we are to treat older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity. Ok, so I guess in a sense I’m her mother and she’s my sister. Why not my daughter? Is that so I won’t give her  that “motherly” advice tone of voice? Come on now, be honest, do we always listen to our mothers? Or is it because as a sister we are more “equal” in communication? 

Titus 2:4 – 5 tells us older women to “train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the Word of God.” A-ha! so we can give motherly advice! But, let’s back up a bit.  In 1 Timothy it tells us to treat the younger women “with purity”.  So, we can’t train, or give that motherly advice unless we are pure. Yep. We can’t be gossiping about Betty Jean or flirting with Henrietta’s husband and properly advise young women.

So, whatever Melissa’s reasons are for being in the gray haired women’s class, I’m glad she’s there. I hope we can all appreciate her and not overwhelm her with too much “mothering”.  And I hope she can overlook the forgetful minds of age and the 14 pair of eyes peering over their bifocals.

“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.”  ~1 Timothy 4:12

copyrite 2009

Florence Nightengale Where Are You?

The whole month of August is a blur to me. I was hospitalized with an extremely painful and life threatening episode of pulmonary embolism, with multiple blood clots in both lungs. A week later I was hospitalized again with pneumonia and pleurisy.

But enough about that. Let’s talk about nurses shall we? Having had multiple ear surgeries since the age of five, I am no stranger to hospitals.

First of all, all day shift nurses have the appearance of a 12 year old, (when did nurses get so young?)  Apparently my gray hair screamed to them, “TALK TO HER AS IF SHE HAS DEMENTIA AND CAN’T UNDERSTAND YOU!” Granted they were all very sweet, but sometimes a little too sweet, you know what I mean? As in “pat your hand” and “dearie” sweet. I’m not in a nursing home yet for pete’s sake!

For some reason most all the “older” nurses are relegated to the night shift. What’s worse, not a single one of them wore their hair gray, but they did compliment me on mine, “if my gray looked like yours I wouldn’t color anymore.” hmmm….. really?

And the nurse doesn’t even wake you in the middle of the night  for your vitals anymore. The Aide in the scrub pants and rubber “crocs” with the snake tattoo much too eagerly throws the light switch on above your bed sending you into a Frankenstein upright position before ripping the velcro on the blood pressure cuff without saying a word.  Oh how I longed to hear the swish, swish of crisp, starched white uniforms from my childhood and looking up in the middle of the night to see a Florence Nightengale angel like face with gray hair pinned up under a white triangle cap.

But in all fairness, both hospital stays were good, as far as hospitals go. And it’s ok that times have changed in the last 40+ years as far as dress code goes, as long as the care is good.

Isn’t that how it is with Christians? We may look different now from the days of the disciples or even from the Jesus Freaks of the 1970′s, but as long as we continue to care for others in the name of Jesus, it doesn’t matter to Him what we look like. 

“For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited Me in. I needed clothes and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you came to visit Me…I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it for Me.”  ~ Jesus

copyrite 2009