Another Birthday

Next week is a milestone for me. I enter another decade of life. But honestly, my attitude is that it’s just another year closer to heaven.Aging has never bothered me. When I was in my twenties, I wanted my hair to go gray prematurely because I looked so young that I felt like I’d never get the respect I needed for ministry leadership. It didn’t go gray, it went away!But I’ve enjoyed every period of life since coming to Christ. I had a lot of friends in my college and seminary years and loved the foundation I gained in Scripture and church work. Linda and I had a blast raising our kids. I loved the challenge of planting a church in my late twenties and early thirties. My late thirties and forties brought more stability, as we entered into parenting teenagers and learning to lead a staff in a larger church. Those were probably our favorite parenting years, believe it or not. We loved having teenagers.These last dozen years have brought about the greatest amount of change for us. Our kids went into and through college, 3 weddings, 4 grandkids, the major challenge of leading a turn-around church (far more difficult than planting a new one), and now adapting to life with an empty nest.Every stage of life is very different from the other. But I’ve loved all of them and am excited for what God has for us in the years ahead. Here’s some perspective on aging that should help everyone reading, both young and old. No matter how young you are, you are aging and your life is changing.

• Every year of life is a gift from God. Seeing it that way will affect your perspective.
• Every stage of life has its positives and negatives. You get to enjoy the positives by paying for them with the negatives. In other words, appreciate the good things and accept the challenges. For example, you’ll enjoy parenting a lot more if you accept the fact that you’ll get less sleep and have to do the tough work of discipline.
• Learn from those in later stages. It will save you a TON of grief! Linda and I had an easier time parenting because we sought the advice of empty nesters who had good kids. We wanted to learn what they did. It’s our foolishness and pride that makes us think our situation is unique and that we have all of our own answers. Learn from those who have gone before you. Let their mistakes become valuable by listening to their wisdom.
• Age alone does not give wisdom. There are a lot of foolish old people. You get wisdom by learning lessons over the years. But stubborn young people who refuse to learn, grow into crotchety old people who still think they know it all, but have nothing to share because they really don’t. If you never get to the place where you know how little you actually know, you’ll never gain wisdom. So however old you are, learn from the past, admit your mistakes, listen to others, and let each stage prepare you for the next.
• Older people should seek out younger people and young people should seek out older people. Younger people gain wisdom by spending time with older people and older people stay young by spending time with young people. I have no interest in attending church where almost everyone is in the same stage of life. Yes, you’ll connect better with people your age, but you won’t grow very much. Comfort is the enemy of growth. So hang out with some people who are outside of your comfort zone.

So there you have it. My birthday speech.