AGING...Gracefully?

I have been graying since I was 19 years old. I started dying my hair when I was 28 to hide the gray. It is one of the few luxuries I spend money on consistently. I've asked hair dressers so many times through the years if I can do this until I'm in my 70s, which is when I'm supposed to turn gray, right?
Lately it has become more and more difficult to find the time to get my roots done and so when I called my hairdresser...again...to see if she could squeeze me when I'm in town, she suggested going gray. 
Are you kidding? I've been covering up my gray for almost 30 years now. I can't even imagine that. I was very excited to turn 50. I didn't mind at all turning 55. I don't like the excess weight, but it doesn't drag me down. But going gray? That thought always brought up negative emotions for me.
But the more I thought I about it, I decided "why not?" I am aging, and gray hair is part of it. So today I went and had my hair done, and I left the roots gray. 
I'm pretty sure that going gray goes along with my theme this past year of finishing well, or... aging gracefully. 
When we were going through a very difficult season the past several years, I felt like I was becoming a person I didn't want to be. There were times when I had so much hate in my heart that I wondered if I was becoming like Saul, who would have the shepherd boy David come and play for him so the evil spirits would leave. 
I remember praying so often through that difficult season that I would not lose my faith. That I would finish well. That the pain would not overtake me and make me into something I'm not.
Like so many challenging seasons in our lives, they are just that... seasons. As hard as this last one was, my faith got me through. If we continue to hang on to Jesus for dear life, and that is what I had to do, he sees us through every difficult season and we become better and stronger for it. 
As I am moving into this new season in life, that of empty nest (plus Alyssa), and gray hair, it is my prayer that I will finish well. I want to say at the end of my life, as Paul did, "I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day..." 
Is there a crown of righteousness waiting for you?
Aging gracefully is hard. The more "life" we see, the more it pains us and can cause us to become bitter. But if we keep our eyes fixed (glued) on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, we will have the strength and the grace and the mercy for each new day. "We will rise up on wings like eagles. We will run and not grow weary. We will walk and not faint." We will finish well.
Thank you for reading this far. I pray you will be blessed beyond measure this week.