Old Pictures

 Old Puctures

Pictures, old pictures of youngsters, of us as we were many years ago. Look, there we are posing, smiles on our faces, dressed in our caps and gowns and a diploma in our hands. We were ready to tackle the world, our future before us, and we were smarter then than we would ever be again. The army, work, college and in some cases marriage awaited us. We were young, and we wanted so badly to wear the banner of adult hood.  Some of us, most of us were impatient. We made many mistakes, and we quickly found out that becoming an adult  would take time. Some of us had adult responsibilities sooner than we had anticipated. No time for adolescent foolishness. Responsibilities kept us busy. Hard times made us tough. The world that we thought we would tackle was hard, too hard sometimes. We were knocked down, but we got up determined to fight with all our might so as not to go down again. But we went down again and again and again. Many time we have been floored and stomped on,  but  our faith in our Lord lifted us up, and we kept on going. 

Old pictures of high school graduation, college graduation, places we worked, marriage, children, vacations—the people we were back years ago, memories both good and bad, and we wish we could have a do over to correct our mistakes. We look at those old pictures, and it seems as though they were taken only days ago. But when we look in the mirror we are quickly reminded that decades have passed, and we no longer look like those young images on those old pictures. Yet, despite our mature years we remain the people we were back then, older but wiser, thankful for the life God has given us and looking forward to the new life that will last forever.