When you'd rather be back in the good ol days! - by Mary Folkerts

 

The first sign that you might be getting older is if you start reminiscing about the good ol days, when life seemed more straightforward and wholesome. It feels like it's one way we process today’s difficulties and mourn days we can never retrieve. The problem is that we stack today’s problems against a glorified view of the past. Somehow, our memory selector often forgets that “in the day” we struggled too, perhaps with different things, but still hard things.

Don’t get me wrong; I think there are many things society would do well to remember and incorporate back into life today.

I think it’s time to get back to the good ol days,
to stop running after the newest,
latest and strangest.

Let’s get back to family supper
around the table,
Sunday morning church
and bedtime prayers.

Not everything our parents taught us must be
deconstructed, dismantled, and rejected.
Let’s get back to family values.
Let’s teach our kids
that lying’s still wrong,
that absolutes exist,
winning is fun,
but sometimes you lose.

Let’s prepare our children that life is hard–
you must work for what you have.
Let’s not give them everything they want
so they can be grateful
for what they’ve got.

Let’s teach them that an
entitled attitude will
never be attractive
teach the fulfillment of hard work
and the pleasure of
a good book.

Help them see joy in
the smallest things,
to be where their feet are,
to not wish to be older.

Not everything of the past
is contemptible, outdated,
and useless.
Old fashions consistently cycle back;
maybe it’s time for values,
critical thinking, and
the wisdom of our
forefathers to be revisited.
To make it fashionable to be brave
to stand alone against the crowd
if need be.

We can do our part in encouraging our children, grandchildren and readers alike of the value of many things from the past, and still not be stuck in a morose attitude of all things current. Even the Bible has something to say about how we should view our present situation: “Do not say, 'Why were the old days better than these?’ For it is not wise to ask such questions” (Ecclesiastes 7:10 NIV).

What’s the point of living in the “glory days” of the past when every decade has its beauty and hardship? God has put us here in time and space to glorify him and be a light to this generation. We can pass down solid, foundational truths learned from those before us and still live fully and joyfully in the present.

Mary Folkerts is mom to four kids and wife to a farmer, living on the southern prairies of Alberta, where the skies are large and the sunsets stunning. She is a Proverbs 31 ministries COMPEL Writers Training member involved in church ministries and music. Mary’s blog aims to encourage and inspire women and advocate for those with Down Syndrome, as their youngest child introduced them to this extraordinary new world. For more inspiration, check out Joy in the Small Things https://maryfolkerts.com/ or connect on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/maryfolkerts/