I thought, ‘Those who are older should speak, for wisdom comes with age.’ Job 32:7 (NLT)
First, thank you sincerely to all of you who took the time to wish me a happy birthday. I am so thankful for each of you and grateful for the part that you play in the tapestry of my life. It’s really hard to get my arms around the fact that I am 58 years old. Not too long ago, 58 year-old people were really old people. Someone asked me what it was like to be in my 50’s and I joked that “growing old isn’t for wimps” and that the absolute best thing I am finding is that life experience and hopefully resulting experiential wisdom cannot be learned in a classroom, a textbook, a Tweet, a social media post or in the Insta-World that permeates our lives. Experience is a process. Life experience is a gift. Growing older is a reward. Older people in our lives is a window into what is coming and a mirror into our hearts.
“Rise in the presence of the aged and honor the elderly face-to-face. Fear your God. I am the LORD.” Leviticus 19:32
To be clear, I am not claiming to be elderly nor do I mean to dishonor the elderly ahead of me and among us. They are deserving of their place of honor and my/our gratitude for what they have done to contribute to the blessed life that I live and the life-enhancing inventions that were created by their generation and generations before mine. Thank you to every Kerr, Malcolm, Cooke, Smith, Purvis, Mason, Mullins, West, Cowherd, Mahanes, Carlock, Williams, Rotterman, Baker, Adams, Barrett, Kline, Stephens, Whitehead, Carringer, Shanks and on and on and on names that have impacted my life and who so selflessly and lovingly poured into me as a child, prayed for me as a prodigal and lovingly welcomed me home when I allowed Jesus to resume his rightful place as the King of all of my life.
“A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.” Proverbs 14:30 (NIV)
Oh and before I forget, to the Jones’ in my life. I release you because I cannot keep up with you. I wasted too much of the precious few minutes that I have been allocated on this Earth pursuing all the fleeting things that the Jones’ had and have and that the World convinced me I needed and “deserved.” Deserved, what a term of the Devil so subtly and not so subtly used by this broken World to draw us away from relationship with our Father in Heaven. As I grow older, I understand that we are all wonderfully and marvelously made, each with our own gifts, talents and purpose in life, given to us in the DNA that is only our own. God uniquely made me and each of us and the impact that abides in each of us, awaiting release that can and will cause cataclysmic and positive impact to those in our path if we will allow Christ to assume his rightful place in our lives. So Jones’, my sinful eyes love the newest cars, the finest clothes, the most magnificent homes, the trendiest vacations and my insecure heart longs for the fleeting accolades of my fellow humans, but after 58 years I acknowledge, accept and gratefully, humbly, longingly say that I accept exactly who my Heavenly Dad has created me to be…and that is so much more than enough.
“But those who keep waiting for the LORD will renew their strength. Then they’ll soar on wings like eagles; they’ll run and not grow weary; they’ll walk and not grow tired.” Isaiah 40:31
So, apparently growing older means I have much to say about what the Father has put on my heart. I have lived long enough to see the World go from beautiful colors to darkness. To see humans achieve the moon and grow more distant than ever before. To see an Internet connect us as never experienced, resulting in suicide, murder, hopelessness and isolation spiral out of control. I see communities of amazing McMansions proclaiming success, filled with brokenness and desperation. I see a Country emboldened by more and more creative financing tools claiming to liberate and reward, while in fact creating a society of slavery to lenders committed to enhancing the market-value of the company they work for at the expense of the community they are designed to serve. I see a World in horror as 6-million people (estimated) have died of a man-created pandemic while remaining largely silent as 73 million God-created humans are killed through abortion each year because they were defined as “unintended.”
“I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13
More than anything, I see and believe in hope. The hope of the Savior. The hope in the humanity that was placed in each of us by the Creator of all things. I see generations rising up whose impact can and will be marvelous. I stand ready to encourage, to guide, to love, to encourage, to mentor, to embolden, to accept this season of life as a responsibility, not a retirement.
“And now, in my old age, don’t set me aside. Don’t forsake me now when my strength is failing.” Psalm 71:9
Thank you to Jesus, my Lord and Savior, to Megan West Mullins, my children, my family, the Church and my church family and my amazing network of friends for making the first 58 years of my life a journey worth living. I love each of you and gratefully acknowledge your contribution to who I am becoming.