Dumb Blonde Jokes
I thoroughly enjoyed watching Dolly Parton’s 50th Anniversary celebration as a member of the Grand Old Opry. She is beautiful – inside and out – at age 73! What? She’s older than me. How can that be with no wrinkles, a tiny little body and wearing 5” heels? Okay – we know that beauty is helped along with this and that, but she sure makes 70s look mighty good. The show took us back to her childhood, the 4th child of 12, low income family who loved singing. She was undaunted in her certainty that she would one day be a star. She shared about her marriage of 53 years and her husband who has always preferred to be out of the limelight and has seen only one of her shows. They are “lifers” together.
My biggest smile came when she said: “A man asked if I’d mind if he told me a dumb blonde joke. I told him “I don’t mind. I’m not dumb and I’m not blonde!” I completely relate to that response. I’m not dumb and I’m not blonde either, but since I’ve owned the color that my hairdresser only knows for sure for more than forty years now, I’m sticking to it. I smiled even bigger when Dolly talked about her relationship with Jesus.
My daughter turns 50 on December 8th! It’s hard to disguise MY age when she touts hers. She is absolutely thrilled for this jubilee year and she firmly believes her next 50 will be off-the-charts with even more accomplishments for God.
There’s plenty of help to pretend we’re not really getting older.– from hair color, tummy tucks, dressing younger, thinking thin. When it comes to getting older, our culture offers three options: delay, disguise, or despise. Rather than those options, why don’t we EMBRACE this wonderful life we have and that we’re still here to live it?
St. Paul tells Titus that the older women are “to teach what is good, and so train the young women” (Titus 2:3–5). I love this passage, wanting to be mentored by older women when I was younger, and now embracing being the mentor to those younger. If this kind of discipleship is going to happen, we older women must be willing to acknowledge that we are older and wiser. So, ladies and men (it’s for you too) it’s time to step it up and be willing to encourage, support, applaud and cheer on those younger than us. We are on assignment. We’re still here. We’re not done being used by God.
If we belong to Jesus, our “inner self is being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16). Let’s be proud older women and men who teach the younger in our lives to look beyond what is seen and temporary, to what is truly beautiful and eternal. Living a life of devotion to God and drinking at His Springs of Living Water (His Word) is a sure remedy for the “blues” about getting older. It guarantees living and loving life on purpose.