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GailFriends - “The Beach Chairs”
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GailFriends - “The Beach Chairs”
By Gail Golden
Publicist and Ministry Partner - Pocket Full of Change Ministries
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. Eph 5:25-28 NIV
“You sweet thing, you!” I gushed in my best Southern belle style, overwhelmed by my Southern gentleman husband’s thoughtfulness. He stood there with two beach chairs and offered them to my friend Brenda and me. We were relieved, because we had been standing on our feet for an hour in the hot sun, waiting to get into a meeting. Kindly, Jem had slipped away to the near-by CVS and bought them for us.
Gratefully, I arranged the chair on the hot asphalt, eagerly anticipating sinking into its waiting seat. There was only one problem. This chair was very, very low to the ground. We’re talking about four inches above it. I studied the chair, contemplating exactly how I would approach it.
Now, I don’t consider myself old, mind you, but let’s just say that at 57, my knees are not what they used to be. I imagined myself squatting down very low and then tipping back slightly into the seat. That thought scared me, so I went on to Plan B. I could squat, then lean back with my hands on the arms of the chair, and then slowly lower my body onto the seat. I decided that might hurt my back. I was stumped!
During my time of deliberation, Brenda had decided to go off to talk with some other friends, which gave Jem the opportunity to use the chair. Like me, he just stood there and looked at it with a puzzled look on his face. We looked at each other and chuckled.
“You first,” I said with a giggle.
Jem came up with and idea of his own. He held my hands while I slowly lowered my backside safely into the chair. Then, Jem, by some miracle and much groaning, was able to sit in his chair without injuring himself. YAY! We made it!
We sat happily in our chairs for another hour until we decided we needed to stretch our legs and walk around some. Now we were faced with a new problem: how to get out of the chair. At our age, the old knees are not as strong as they once were, and the thought of springing up from the chairs was just that – a thought. The old body didn’t follow the thought’s command. We sat there, looking at each other, chuckling once again. Jem decided the best approach was to lean to the right, put both hands on the ground and roll over onto his hands and knees. It worked and he got up on one knee and then stood up! Then, he helped me up! We were both roaring laughing by now, along with a whole crowd of other folks who were waiting in line with us.
“Jem, honey,” I whispered, “it was real sweet of you to buy these chairs, but I think you’d better take them back. We could hurt ourselves!” We both laughed, realizing we were once again having to make concessions to our age, as much as we hated to.
“Yea, I think you’re right,” he said reluctantly and gathered the chairs up for the trek back to CVS. I stayed in line, to hold our place.
“I’d like to exchange these chairs, please,” he told the CVS clerk.
“What’s wrong with them?”
“Well, there’s nothing wrong with them. They’re just made for younger people.” Jem went on to tell the store clerk about our harrowing experience of getting in and out of the chairs. The clerk and several other people waiting in line thought it hilarious and laughed out loud. Jem good-naturedly told them he was glad to offer them this opportunity for levity.
When Jem told me the story, we both laughed, but then I got serious. “You know Jem, we have to realize we’re not 18 any more!”
“Yea, you’re right!” He laughed. “Our bodies might be old, but we’re still young inside! And I just don’t understand why you’re still as pretty you were when you were 16!”
“You sweet thing, you!” I whispered and gave him a quick kiss. “And you are just as sweet!”
Gail is a ministry partner with and Publicist for Pocket Full of Change Ministries. For more information, to schedule a speaker for an event, or to request a newsletter, go to www.pocketfullofchange.org or call Gail Golden, Publicist at 904 316-5462. This ministry is supported by donations. If this ministry helps you or others, and God calls you to help support this work, you can make a donation to Pocket Full of Change Ministry at POB 51205, Jacksonville Beach, Florida 32240.
© Pocket Full of Change Ministries
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