6 Cycles of Family Aging Family

6 Cycles of Family 

Aging Family

“Once I was young, and now I am old.

Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned

or their children begging for bread.”

“One out of eight Americans is 65 years of age or older.

Every day more than 5,500 Americans observe their sixty-fifth birthday.

The number of aging people is expected to grow rapidly in the years ahead.

As the percentage of older people in the population increases, problems, attitudes, 

responsibilities, and care related to the aging become matters of increasing concern.”

For most Americans, within and out

of the church, old age is a fearful thing.

Fear and denial are visible when we hear people say…

“I am 29 and holding.”

“I’m not 50 I’m 18 with 32 years of experience.”  

I used to say… “The day a 20 year old could

out work me would be a sad day.”

Growing older is part of God’s purpose for a normal life.

“Stay on the path that the Lord your God has commanded you to follow. 

Then you will live long and prosperous lives in the land you are about to enter and occupy.”  

Deuteronomy 5:33

Susan Sarandon said…

“I look forward to being older, when what you look like

 becomes less and less an issue and what you are is the point.”

As we age, we are to become

the stability to our family.

Our children and grandchildren see the

faithfulness of God throughout our lives.

“older men to be temperate, worthy of respect,

 self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.

Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live,

not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good.”

 Titus 2:2-3 NIV

Our role in the family as we grow

older is a very important role.

Your grandchildren will look for

your inspiration and encouragement.

Your love towards them will give them great security and

confidence to live a life that will honor what you honor. 

Being the patriarch of the family, the one each family

member respects and looks to, is a wonderful feeling.

Getting older creates needs in our lives and those needs will

be met by your family if you live and model a godly life.

In your failures and triumphs your

life is full of the fingerprints of God.

He has never left you or forsaken you.

Your ability to show the fingerprints of God in your life with His Word

will make the Bible become more then a book but life to your family.

You cannot stop growing older but you can

experience the blessings God has intended for us.

“Once I was young, and now I am old.

Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned

or their children begging for bread.” Psalm 37:25

  

There are 6 cycles for a family to navigate 

“Cycles of family life”

The marriage

Bearing children

Raising children

The empty nest / launching new family

The declining years

Death in the marriage

Family cycles should be a great experience for the whole family

Scripture Reading

Psalm 37:21-26 NLT

21 The wicked borrow and never repay,

but the godly are generous givers.

22 Those the Lord blesses will possess the land,

but those he curses will die.

23 The Lord directs the steps of the godly.

He delights in every detail of their lives.

24 Though they stumble, they will never fall,

for the Lord holds them by the hand.

25 Once I was young, and now I am old.

Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned

or their children begging for bread.

26 The godly always give generous loans to others,

and their children are a blessing.

“David son of Jesse… died at a good old age, full of days, riches, and honor…”

 (1 Chronicles 29:26, 28)