I'm too old for this

Today is grad student orientation. Today is the day I get my picture taken for my coveted Ncard ID. Today is the day I woke up with a huge zit on my nose.

I am too old for this.

Seriously, too old.

I got my picture taken for my ID. I don’t think anyone will notice the zit due to the “deer in the headlights” look on my face. As I sat in the orientation room the speaker asked us to look around at all the other graduate students. What I found was that I was the oldest person in the room by at least a decade. If you teach you know there is always one person in the class who constantly asks “what?” I’ll be the one asking “What? Can you repeat that honey? I can’t hear you when you mumble.”

I left orientation with a free laundry bag full of pamphlets and free stuff and more questions than answers. I have a key chain that opens beer bottles. I just need a beer to go with it. I got a book with coupons for tanning sessions, a skateboard, 10% off of piercing and tattoos and a free pregnancy test. I bet I’ll be the only grad student to use her Shopko coupon to pay for her osteoporosis meds. I am going to give the free laundry bag to my undergrad daughter since she brings her laundry home to do it for free anyway.

I stopped at many information booths. Things have changed since I was last in school. You now need a library liaison to help you find what you need. It looks like I will need to sign up for a tutorial to learn library technology. Do they have plain old books anymore? I never had a problem accessing a book. I never needed a password either.

I got a brochure from the health center and am impressed at all the services they offer. I wonder if I can make a trade on services. If I don’t need a pregnancy test can I get a free colonoscopy instead? I got a paper with a map of campus but, I can’t read it because my arms aren’t long enough. I will be the only student on campus who drinks diet coke to stay awake for night classes instead of to wake up for a morning class.

I am too old for this.

What did Sarah and Elizabeth think when they were told they would give birth at ages that were well past mine?

“I am too old for this. I am too old for morning sickness, labor, diapers, and nursing. God had many chances to ask me to do this when I was young. Why did He wait until now?”

God’s timing is always right. It may make no sense to us, but, it is always right. I don’t know why I am doing this at my age but God does. He has a plan for what I will be learning and a plan to help me get through it. I am not giving birth to a prophet but there will be a small piece of ministry for me. This is what God has put on my plate. I am too old for this, but He isn’t.

But I trust in you, O LORD;

I say, “You are my God.”

My times are in Your hands.

Psalm 31: 14-15