MID-LIFE CRISIS Melanie Schurr

It is known that sometime between our late thirties and early fifties, many men and women will undergo that much frowned upon stage in life fondly known as "mid-life crisis." Being a woman in her late thirties, I freely admit I am currently passing this time-honored threshold, hopefully,with style and grace, (My husband and children might disagree!). While the sudden flood of emotions has, most certainly,
caught me off guard, personally, I see little, if any, negativity in this private time of reassessment and reflection.

Here's what Frederic Hudson, Ph.D., president of the Hudson Institute in Santa Barbara, California, and author of "The Adult Years" has to say on the matter: "A soulful search for what is truly important is worth our precious time and effort and love and attention. We should feel honored that we are allowed this mid-life checkup, that we receive this wake-up call."

How true this is! How blessed we should feel that, as thinking and feeling human beings, we are given the opportunity to use our God-given abilities to ponder, question, reevaluate, and ultimately, grow!

To me, mid-life crisis is a time to stand back and look where one's life is heading. It is a time of recognizing our own mortality and coming face to face with our past and present hopes and desires, sometimes, even dealing with disappointment.

If YOU are going through a mid-life crisis or just any difficult period of reassessment and questioning, then NOW is a good time to also reevaluate your relationship, or lack thereof, with Jesus Christ. While mortality, career, and family are certainly important topics to reflect upon, none other is as significant as our very salvation.