Things are getting better!

Last month I had my 61st birthday. Except for looking old and feeling old, I am the same old me. I still love a good hearty laugh, the hug of a grandchild, and dozens of other events that make the trip from here to there more tolerable.

This morning just after dawn I was sitting on my front porch listening to the birds and enjoying watching the day wake up. A hummingbird visited my feeder that I hung from the porch two days ago. Three purple martins did an air dance for me and then chased each other out of my sight around the house.

I realized this morning that perhaps I am beginning my second childhood, and I think its going to be fun! Just as my grandkids are keenly interested in each bug, each worm, and have dozens of questions about any number subjects, I too am more inquisitive and interested in things usually taken for granted.

The hummingbird for instance really captured my attention. He wasn't very pretty. It was still a bit before good daylight and in that faint light he just looked black. I watched him intently as over and over he would drink the nectar from the feeder, and then back a few inches away while making a faint clicking sound each time. After a minute or so he would leave and then in about eight or ten minutes there he was again repeating his performance.

I am fascinated by hummingbirds. What other bird can fly backwards, hover effortlessly, and fly from Rockport Texas fifteen hundred miles non stop to South America for the winter? How could I possibly believe a hummingbird "just happened"?

Back to my second childhood. I have noticed I have become a better listener than I was, say twenty years ago. I am more interested in the stories of other peoples lives than before. I think a good cut of beef cooked with a warm pink center tastes better than it used to. I love my wife more today than I did just a few years ago. And, I love God more than I believe I ever have. I am for sure closer to seeing Jesus face to face and realizing my complete salvation when one day this old tent with its aches and pains will instantly be swapped for one incorruptible and eternal, and made by God.

I don't mind one tiny bit that I cry more than I did when I was younger, and I find most are tears of joy. I think I am going to really enjoy my second childhood. Its my last phase before the eternal day break that I am really looking forward to.

Yep, things are getting better!

Royce Ogle