Photo and Commentary ©2026 by Shelley Schurch
Sunday and Monday, August 30 and 31, 2026
I’ve carried this tag around in my purse for several years, and will continue to do so. I remember the day I was taking tags off a couple of new shirts we’d bought for my husband, and how I paused to read this one before I threw it away. It charmed me, so I kept it instead.
In case you can’t easily read the photo, here’s what kept the tag out of the wastebasket: “The special dye and wash process creates the broken-in comfort you expect. Apparent deviations should not be considered a defect, but part of the unique character of a well-aged product. Over time, additional fading may occur, but the quality will never fade.”
I found this reassuring when I read it, and now that I am several years older, it’s even more comforting. Phrases like “broken-in comfort,” “unique character,” and “well-aged” seem to put growing older in such a positive light. (I’d completely forgotten these words were designed to sell a shirt, not reframe the aging process!)
The tag’s last sentence seems to be a promise – unfading quality! Rather than dwindling or diminishing as the years escalate, I can stay strong in ways that matter.
Lest you think I have a habit of looking to clothing tags for my words of encouragement (somewhat like depending on the little slip of paper in a fortune cookie), I have a better habit of turning to God’s words. Here are a few of my favorite Scripture passages about aging, from God’s perspective:
Even to your old age, I am He, and even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you. (Isaiah 46:4 NKJV)
But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord;
I say, “You are my God.”
My times are in Your hand . . . (Psalms 31:14-15)
Those who are planted in the house of the Lord
Shall flourish in the courts of our God.
They shall still bear fruit in old age;
They shall be fresh and flourishing,
To declare that the Lord is upright;
He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.
(Psalm 92:13-15)
And, as we step out into this brand-new week, we can remember that – no matter our age — each day brings us one day closer to His Coming!