Thursday Th(ink)s - April 16, 2026

It’s Thursday. Let’s have supper together and talk a few things over. After all, Thursday and

these years of a certain age seem to sit at the same end of the table. Not the loud end. Not the

beginning. The thoughtful end. The one where the conversation gets truer. Let’s ignore the rest of

the chatter.

There’s a glass in front of us—something aged, something that didn’t get that way

overnight—and I suspect our thoughts might pair well with it.

I’ll start with a question. Then I’ll answer it. You can answer it too, if you like. I’m curious if we

sound alike. I’d love to know I’m not alone.

Question # 1

What makes you the saddest about aging?

I’m sad that one day my grandchildren and I will say goodbye. It may be their first real

encounter with grief. My grandparents were my first great loss, and I remember thinking, I still

need them. I imagine my grands will feel the same.

I’m also sad that so many things I’m doing now will be the last time… and I don’t even know it.

I didn’t know that the last time I went thrift-store treasure hunting with my best friend in

Saskatchewan would be the last time before she died. No warning. No sign on the door. Just…

done.

And I’m sad watching my children carry burdens I used to carry for them. There is a particular

helplessness in that. A standing-back kind of love.

Question # 2

What do you dread the most about aging?

I dread losing my mind before my body.

I dread being a burden to my family.

And I dread the possible pain of dying.

Not very poetic, but there it is.

Question # 3

Has aging arrived before you expected it?

Yes.

I still have too many ideas.

Yes.

I’ve wasted time I now regret.

Yes.

I feel like I’m just beginning to live… and yet here I am, already in Thursday.

Question # 4

What are you the most grateful for in these Thursday years?

I’m grateful that my faith cannot be shaken. The incinerator of brokenness has had its turn with

me—and I am not undone.

I’m grateful that I don’t read the bible and say, “here’s a nice tidy, all-purpose verse.” Instead, I

read it because it is my lifeline.

I’m grateful that my prayers are not flowery prose-filled missives of nice tidy thoughts. Instead,

they are truth bombs from the depths of my soul.

I’m grateful that I’m living with what remains, and it’s more than I deserve.

Big Brains: "All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” -J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

Old Souls: The sands of time are sinking,

The dawn of Heaven breaks;

The summer morn I’ve sighed for,

The fair, sweet morn awakes. -Bob Kauflin and Sovereign Grace Music

The Ancient of Days: For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

a time to be born, and a time to die. -Ecclesiastes 3:1-2

Norma Jean:
I feel like I’m just beginning to live… 
and yet here I am, already in Thursday.

Thursday Chat: What has already been a “last time” in your life that you didn’t recognize until later? And how does that change the way you are living today?