Linda Stoll: In Which I Pay Homage to Women 'Of a Certain Age'

I've always loved my birthdays. Although you'd never know it by this photo.

That is until the summer of 2013 when I hit 58. I couldn't quite grasp why that particular milestone wasn't sitting quite right with me ... until I realized that it made the big six-o quite close. Way too close for comfort.

Recollections of my sainted grandmother gazing out the dining room window 'just marking time' in her creaking rocking chair played in my head. Gray hair and orthopedic shoes and endless physical maladies flashed through my mind.

And then images of Lawrence Welk and his accordian and Jack LaLanne exercising came to call. {You MUST check out these videos!}

Anyway, it was all too much for me to handle.

Downright unsettling.

Fast forward 3 years. I've gotten over the shock of old age menacingly looming over the horizon and have moved on.

Because I truly believe that 60 is the new 30.

So here's to all of us women 'of a certain age'! By God's grace, we're living energetic and courageous lives. Sure we're sometimes bone-weary by the end of the day. Who isn't? But life's tragic sorrows, the grief of divorce, the ravages of cancer, the impact of death that's come to call far too soon, unresolved family issues, and jobs that make us crazy don't knock us out of the game.

We're opening the doors of our homes wide, we're envisioning new ministries, we're walking and biking, we're mixing it up in our communities.

We're writing, we're stepping out of our comfort zones. We're creating, we're taking in new vistas right and left, we're standing up for what matters most and leaving the small stuff behind.

You'll find us dining well and some of us you are fabulous chefs. We read voraciously and love going deep in conversations about spiritual things. Sure, we might muse on retirement or health issues and we might not be all that certain of what's coming next, but we still laugh easily and often.

In the process of living life, our faith has emerged rock solid even though ferocious winds of heartbreak could have knocked us flat and left us lying in the dust. Refined like precious gold, we are. And that reality has enabled us to rise from the ashes, wiser for the deep pain we've endured. And ready, willing, and able to share our hard won learnings with the generations that follow ... with grace, grace, and more grace.

'Cause we've been there, done that. And we've emerged to tell our Christ-exalted victory stories.

Sorry, Grandma. 60+ isn't looking so bad any more.