Feeling a Little Old

So today is my birthday, the big 3-4, and for the first time ever, I'm a little down about it. I know there is nothing special about the 34th birthday; it's not a milestone that ought to cause me to be depressed. But for some reason, I feel a little bit old.

Maybe it's because 34 is my all-time favorite football player, Walter Payton's, number, and as a kid that just seemed like such a high number, not to be even considered as an actual age.

Maybe it's because last year, I hadn't done the math, and for an entire month leading up to my birthday, thought I was turning 34, and then when I realized I was only 33, for some reason felt much younger.

Maybe it's because when my mom was 34, she already had 4 kids.

Or maybe, it's because my lovely bride let me in on the fact that she's noticed a little bid of thinning of the hair on the top of my head. No! I can't be going bald!

Maybe it's because I'm so immature that I should have been bothered by turning 30, but it took me four more years to get there.

For whatever reason, this age seems a bit too old for me. Baseball and football players are getting ready to retire at 34. When did I get older than the atheletes on TV? Oh well, what can you do? There's only one other option to getting older, I guess.

I've heard some people postulate that when we get to Heaven, we'll all be in 33 year old bodies, because that is the perfectly mature age, when we've stopped growing and before we've really starting aging much. That's how old Jesus was when he died on the cross, and it's age of his resurrection body, I suppose. Now, I think that's pure speculation, but it's something interesting to think about. If it's true, it means I'll be in last year's body when I get to Heaven. I guess it's all down hill with this body in the meantime. Oh well.

I guess I'll remember what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

Considering that what I see is an ever-growing pot belly and an ever receding hair line, I'm glad it's temporary. This 34 year old body is already wasting away, but I sure like the idea of being renewed day by day into eternity.