Have you ever had one of those weeks where you just flip the switch to “function mode”? Not thriving. Not flourishing. Just doing whatever it takes to keep the household running and everyone alive until bedtime.
That was our week.
I had the joy of traveling to Tennessee the week before, for my sister’s birth. It was such a sweet time—celebrating, snuggling a brand-new little boy, and catching up with family. Those moments feel like little pockets of heaven. But the day after we got home… the stomach bug arrived—and not the polite kind.
One by one, each of our seven kids came down with it. If you’re a parent, you already know what that means—bowls. So many bowls. We had windows open, diffusers running—anything that might slightly improve the… atmosphere.
There were lots of hugs, because sick kids need extra comfort. By day three, we were exhausted. I had been faithfully chugging vitamin C and oil of oregano like a determined health warrior… but apparently, the stomach bug was unimpressed. Chad and I both got it at the same time. And that, my friends, is true function mode.
After a few days like that, I find myself craving quiet time with the Lord even more than usual. I need the reset. It feels like sitting down with a close friend after a long week—sharing everything on my heart and letting Him gently realign my perspective.
Tonight I was reading in Titus 2, where Paul talks about the lives of older men, older women, and the younger generations. The chapter is short but packed with wisdom about the kind of character that should mark a believer’s life.
While reading a commentary on this passage, I came across an excerpt that stopped me in my tracks. In a culture so focused on youth and trying to hold onto beauty forever, this perspective felt both refreshing and deeply convicting. I thought it was too good not to share.
The bloom of the aged
A good woman never grows old. Years may pass over her head, but if benevolence and virtue dwell in her heart, she is as cheerful as when the spring of life first opened to her view. When we look upon a good woman, we never think of her age; she looks as charming as when the rose of youth first bloomed on her cheek. That rose has not faded yet; it will never fade. In her neighbourhood, she is a friend and benefactor. Who does not respect and love the woman who has passed her days in acts of kindness and mercy—who has been the friend of man and God—whose whole life has been a scene of kindness and love and devotion to truth? We repeat, such a woman cannot grow old. She will always be fresh and buoyant in spirit and active in humble deeds of mercy and benevolence. If the young lady desires to retain the bloom and beauty of youth, let her not yield to the sway of fashion and folly; let her love truth and virtue, and to the close of life she will retain those feelings which now make life appear a garden of sweets, ever fresh and ever new.
(Great Thoughts.)
As I read it, several women immediately came to mind—women whose lives radiate kindness, wisdom, and love for the Lord. That is the kind of woman I want to become. Not someone striving to stay young forever… but someone whose life reflects truth, mercy, and devotion to God. Because that kind of beauty doesn’t fade with the years.
It deepens.
And if the Lord can shape that kind of character in the middle of weeks filled with sickness, exhaustion, and full “function mode”… well, that gives me a lot of hope.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to wash those metal bowls one more time.
Be blessed,
Erin
