Life is full of new beginnings, which usually means the ending of something else. This week baby Emerald ended her night-time partnership with a bassinet and began sleeping in a larger bed.

Birgitta chose a Pack ‘n Play over a traditional crib for now, and Emerald is appreciating its soft sides. The first night in her new bed we heard her fingers scraping at the netting, exploring her new surroundings with curiosity.

Babies probably experience more endings/beginnings in the first year of their lives than they will in any other year, and they usually do it with eagerness. It seems as soon as Emerald gets used to something (like her Bumbo seat), she’s nearly done with it. This week she’s practicing sitting on her own and when placed in the Bumbo squirms left and right to get out of it.

But babies aren’t the only ones coping with continual change. The rest of us are there, too, not always as quick to flex as the little ones. When we age, we seem to love non-change more and more, or maybe it’s just me. I think it’s generally difficult to make frequent adjustments to “the way it is,” once we’re in the autumn of our lives.

But I’ve been watching other people in my age bracket and beyond, looking to see if any of them exhibit flexibility and a willingness to embrace change. Amazingly, a few do it with ease, even with flair, all the way through their 80’s and 90’s. How do they do that?

Scripture insists we can stay “fresh and green” until the end of our lives (Psalm 92:14), remaining productive for God, others, and ourselves. In looking at that Psalm, I learned exactly how this can be done:

• By acting righteously
• By willingly planting ourselves in the house of the Lord
• By testifying to God’s righteousness

I found the same thing in one of the Proverbs: “The righteous will thrive like a green leaf.” (11:28)

Such a promise then begs the question, so how do we get righteous? Psalm 1 lets us know: we’re to take delight in God’s law, thinking about it during the day and also during the night. If we do that, it says, everything else we do will prosper.

Everything!

That’s quite a promise. And along that same vein, Jeremiah tells us that if we put our confidence in God and trust him no matter how disastrous our circumstances, we’ll always be like a well-rooted tree whose leaves are continually green, “never failing to bear fruit.” (17:7-8)

Never!

And if all that is true, old age can be all kinds of fun! Embracing new beginnings without stressing over old endings will be as easy as….

….well, as easy as it is for little Emerald.

“The righteous… will still bear fruit in old age; they will stay fresh and green.” (Psalm 92:14)