Getting old(er), and particularly being fifty, is a little odd. For example, I am now older than Linda's aunts and uncles were when I first met them. That's a very odd feeling. But age also has its compensations - not least being that of having experienced a lot of life, and made a lot of mistakes which I won't be repeating! And life is still fun!
Linda (my wife!) and I were very blessed recently - and still are. A young couple, Rob and Suzie Shearsby, asked us to be god-parents to their daughter, Phoebe. Suzie and Rob are members of our church, and we see them very regularly, so we're able to begin to get to know Phoebe properly. We get regular updates, as well as seeing her at church most weeks, so we feel properly involved, and can pray for the whole family in an informed way. And they seem happy to hand Phoebe over for us to mind, and get to know, which is lovely, because we both love babies! Even better still, Ruth Paterson, with whom we're also close friends, is one of their son Noah's godparents, so we can do stuff together with both kids.
It's a real blessing because it came as a complete surprise - we'd both, separately, come to the conclusion that we were too old, and that none of the 'bright young things' would want a pair of old fogeys like us to be god-parents to their kids. Clearly, God had other ideas. How wrong can you be? It feels a little like being in the story of Abraham and Sarah.