LIVE. LAUGH. LOVE.

Isn't it incredible how the longer we live on this Earth the more the passage of time between the world outside us and the world within us seems out of sync? I attended my 35th high school reunion recently. It was held at the 4-H camp that I grew up next to as a child. When I got there the very first thing I noticed was the little Oak trees that I used to climb up as a boy now seemed as tall as Redwoods. How had that happened?

I had arrived early so I volunteered to help get things set up. I placed some chairs around the tables and then got drafted to blow up the party balloons. For some reason my aging lungs couldn't seem to get my balloons quite as large as my friend's, who was helping me out. Then later when we all gathered together at the buffet table I had to remind myself not to put too much food on my plate lest I be up all night again with indigestion. I glanced through an old year book that was there and saw my teenage self again. I wondered where that guy with the thick, brown hair and cast iron stomach had gone.

As I started to talk to my old high school friends I noticed something else too. We all looked a little different. There was some with gray hair. There was some with no hair. And we all seemed to have a few extra pounds and a few extra wrinkles. Yet, the moment we started to talk and catch up the years melted away and our young souls shined through. On the outside we all seemed a little wiser and more mature, but on the inside every single one of us was bright, beautiful, and vibrant. On the inside every single one of us was still young. 35 years may have aged our bodies a bit, but it hadn't had any effect whatsoever on our souls.

Our souls are created in Love. Our souls live through Love. And Love never ages. Love is both immortal and forever young. And so are we. May you live all of your days here from your young soul then. May you coax your aging body along so it can share all the love you possibly can in this life. And then after 35 or 135 years when you meet Our Father in Heaven may you rejoice in your eternal life and dwell forever in His Love, Joy, and Light.