I'm rather new to this "getting old" stage of life. Up to now, all my life has been young and innocent. Unfortunately, those days have passed.

It's hard to get adjusted to old age because I've never experienced it before. I remember when I was young, all of the fun that I had. But now, I'm at a new stage of life, and I don't know exactly what I should be doing.

Somebody should write a book sometime titled, "How To Get Old in 10 Easy Steps." I'll buy that book in a second.

I've been trying to find the good part of getting old, and I am still looking.

The other day The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage said to me, "You are starting to act like an old goat."

When she said that, something clicked upstairs. I don't want to act like an old goat; I want to be one. It got me thinking, as I've never thought before. How can I use this "old goat stage?" The more I get to know it, the more I'll be able to use it for my benefit. Why not use what you have at hand for your own good?

I'm not sure what an old goat is, but I'm going to work on it and make sure I am the best version of an old goat I can be.

Every time The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage said that I was acting like an old goat, I stopped and thought about what she was talking about. How can I improve that in my life?

I asked her why she thought I was acting like an old goat. She said, "Well for one, you're always remembering things according to what you want to remember. You gotta remember the truth."

As I understand it, as an old goat, I have "selective memory." I never thought of that before. How can I use "selective memory" to make me a better old goat?

I've been working on this for a while, and every time I tell a story from the past, I make sure I am selecting that memory the way I want. Some story in my past, nobody knows all of the details. So, as a professional old goat, I can choose which memories I want to share with people. How do they know if it's right or wrong?

This has made my storytelling much more enjoyable. I sure have been having fun with all of these "selective memory" moments. One good thing is that I don't have to remember these to tell the same story over and over again as a professional old goat. I can make up things selectively as I go along. Oh, how I love being an old goat.

As we were coming home from a meeting with some of our friends The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage looked at me and said, "That story you told about when you were in high school was that the same story you told three weeks ago?"

Oh boy. I didn't even remember the story I told three weeks ago, so I just said to her, "No, that was a different story."

She just looked at me with one of her smiles, and I realized she did not believe me then.

Now, the next step in honing my old goat skills is remembering the stories that I tell. The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage cannot forget anything, and she always brings to my attention some of the mistakes that I have made in my stories. I didn't know she listened so attentively to my stories.

So, along with my "selective memory" skill, I need to develop the next stage: "Once told never repeat." I don't know how I'm going to really work on this, but that's the next skill to develop as an old goat.

This will be the hardest skill for me to hone, but it's one I'll have to develop.

The next time I tell a story with our friends around, I'm going to keep my eye on The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage. If I see a certain expression on her face, I'm going to take the story in an altogether different direction.

This is the third skill I need to hone as an old goat. That is, "Watch The Gracious Mistress Of The Parsonage Face." After 54 years of marriage, I should be able to read that face, and yet I find it rather difficult. But, being the professional old goat that I am, I'm going to work on it until I have it mastered.

Now that I have come to the stage of being an old goat, I'm beginning to like getting old. As a young person, I could never get away with acting like an old goat. But now that I have the years behind me, I can act like a professional old goat. Believe me, it has its rewards.

I have a long way to go in developing my old goat skills. I'm going to work at it until I get it as perfect as I can.

I was reminded of David's prayer in Psalm 71:18. "Now also when I am old and greyheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come."

Looking at my life I must say that this has become my prayer every day.

Dr. James L. Snyder, is pastor of the Family of God Fellowship, 1471 Pine Road, Ocala, FL 34472. He lives with his wife in Silver Springs Shores. James is an award winning author whose books are available at https://amzn.to/2SMOjwO.

Call him at 352-687-4240 or e-mail jamessnyder2@att.net. The church web site is www.whatafellowship.com.