More from Janis Gregg Pressley

In the two years since I wrote the meditation on journaling and aging, I have continued to journal and, thank God, to age.  I’ve included concerns on my heart, dreams for my family’s and my futures, highlights from sermons, hopes, prayer requests and answers, and scripture reflections, among other things. I’ve journaled about my relationships with church members, family, friends, myself, neighbors, and God. It has helped me to “be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer,” as it says in Romans 12:12 (NIV).

Having just celebrated my 76^th birthday, I’m rereading my past journals (26 years’ worth) and working on my gratitude list for this birthday.  As usual I find God in Jesus Christ throughout the years, helping me to weather the inevitable storms of life.  Looking back on just the last year of my life, I thank God for many, many things.  I thank God for my faithful family and friends, cheerful church members, nearby neighbors, medical staff, physical and occupational therapists, and social workers who provided encouragement and support through my back surgery.  I praise God for seeing me through the surgery and the resultant stays in hospital and short-term rehabilitation facilities. I thank God that he guided the surgeon’s hands to correct severe lumbar stenosis.  About seven months after back surgery, I had cataracts surgery as well. I thank God that it also worked as expected.

Consequently, I can use again the gifts God gave me for myself and others. I can do the things I used to love.  I joined the church choir since I can now stand without pain and read small print.  Not only that, but I also co-authored a book on positive aging with a psychologist friend.  I included information about what I learned from my hospital and rehab stays that will help others facing similar situations.  We are now waiting for a review from a potential publisher. 

It is such a blessing to be useful as I age, and it helps me move forward instead of focusing on any aches and pains.  I thank God for them too as it means I can still breath and feel.  Of all the things I thank God for I thank him most of all for his continued grace and presence in my life and the lives of my loved ones. I hope to continue journaling as long as I live so I won’t forget God’s love for me and how God has blessed me to be a blessing by serving others with the gifts God gave me.  For the words of 1 Peter 4:10 remain true, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms,” for as long as you are able.