By Kelly Carr

We’ve looked at the opposing ends of the spectrum, and now in the final week of our generations series, we go to the middle. What exactly defines “middle age”? While one dictionary classifies it as age 45 to 64, some begin it as low as 35. Whoa—that’s getting personal, as I fall into that last grouping! I am realizing that I’m not as young as I used to be.

In 2014, The Huffington Post declared that middle age was more about a mindset than a particular age bracket. They took a survey of their readers and came up with 25 funny signs that you are middle-aged. Here are a few, as reported by Shelley Emling, senior editor:

• “Reading on your phone becomes difficult because the font is suddenly too tiny and blurry.”

• “Hair starts appearing everywhere—on your nose, face, ears.”

• “You begin thinking policemen/teachers/doctors look really young.”

• “You groan every time you bend over.”

• “You misplace your keys—and just about everything else too.”

However you define middle age, it’s an interesting time of life. People note that they feel more confident in the middle years than their young adult years—more settled into who they are and the impact they desire to make on the world. As they are in the midst of imparting the wisdom they have gained to the younger ones in their lives, at the same time they’re offering more care to their aging loved ones. Truly this is a group stuck in the middle, pulled to minister in both directions.

Enjoy the perspectives shared this week, as middle-aged authors offer messages to both their children and their parents and make plans now for what God has in store in the next stage.

I hope you’ve gained something these last few weeks by hearing from people of different ages than you. What a blessing it is as part of God’s family to have brothers and sisters in Christ from all generations.