Growing Older

Indispensable!

/ pastorpete51 / 6 Comments 
On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable. 1 Corinthians 12:22-24 ESV

Indispensable! How I love the sound of that word! Society and sadly even some of our families, certainly do not think of us, who live in retirement or those in nursing homes as indispensable. We who once were the primary caregivers for our children are not really needed for much. Some in long-term care cannot even shower, cook or do the dishes without help. Dispensing with our help is something they have learned to do a long time ago. But the good news is that God delights in calling us indispensable. “In what way can I be indispensable?” you may ask. Here are three.

Prayer: Young people use the phrase, “over the hill” to describe getting older, but in some ways our years put us at a hilltop, from where we can see what our children and grandchildren cannot down in the valleys of life. So, instead of using that perspective to cluck about “That younger generation” God wants us to take time to pray. Because we know first-hand about consequences, and the bumps, bruises and scars of our own missteps and sins, God has taught us to pray, and He will hear and answer the prayers when we cry out to Him.

Connections: Grandad or Nana may not be the first call our kids make when the water heater leaks, the car breaks down or when their kids get in trouble at school, but sometimes we are asked for help. Then we can share the connections we have developed over the years. We know somebody, who knows somebody, or we have “been there and done that,” in that exact situation. Uncle “Google” pretends to know all the answers, but in the midst of a divorce, a disabling accident or a friend’s betrayal, real people with even average intelligence, beat the artificial kind every time!

Counsel: This is tricky, because if we are always offering counsel, we will be ignored (especially if we are right!). We must be patient, so that when they do call to ask our opinion he or she will want to listen. Let’s be sure when that time comes, that we are honest about our own struggles, and then point them to how we have found help in our faith and in God’s promises. We who have lived longer must tell them how we have failed, but with God’s help have gotten back up and gone on. Because we have been weak, He has become our greatest strength. Now our job is to pass it on to them!

“Jesus Tells Us to Be Brave”

/ pastorpete51 / Leave a comment

Our area has been captivated recently by the story of Peyton, an eight-year-old girl, who went out to compete alone in a cheerleading competition, because the rest of her team didn’t show up. I watched her performance and the interview with her, while she was sitting on her mom’s lap and was touched by her final statement, “Jesus tells us to be brave.” Many of us who are older Christians need to follow that advice. When I was a teenager, I remember my grandmother telling me, “Old age isn’t for sissies!” and I used to think it was cute or sweet, but now I know the truth. Growing older sometimes leaves us in positions where we feel just like Peyton. The family we grew up with, some of our neighbors and close friends are gone. The world we once knew has changed forever and we feel very – very alone. That is when I turn to one of my go-to verses, like Psalm 34 –

I sought the Lord, and he answered me
    and delivered me from all my fears.
Psalm 34:4 ESV

That is when we need to remember that Jesus tells us to be brave. We are never alone. He hears us. He is with us. He promises to walk with us through the competition and to deliver us from ALL our fears. So whatever you are facing today, bring it to the Lord Jesus. Surely no one understands better than He what it means to be alone, misunderstood or abandoned. He loves us and has allowed us to face these things alone so that we can discover that He can deliver us and bring us through…. P.S. Peyton won first place!

See Peyton perform here

Jesus Weeps With Us

/ pastorpete51 / 5 Comments

Don and his wife Lorna had been active in our church for as long as anyone could recall. Lorna headed the greeters and helped organize events for the seniors. While Don took a less active role in official ministry, he was a loved and active part of our men’s group. After church, I always enjoyed listening to his stories of growing up on a dairy farm in Minnesota and his many years as an administrator of a nursing home. Though they were some of our oldest members, Don and Lorna seemed to live a charmed life that would go on forever. Forever that is until Lorna had a fall breaking her hip and Don began using a walker to shuffle in and out of church. But people brought them dinners, prayed for them and even did the shopping. Then came Lorna’s second fall and the inevitable change of living quarters, from a lovely senior apartment to a nursing home. There, just last week, a few of us gathered in the dining room to celebrate their 63rd anniversary. Their son and daughter try to stay involved and make numerous trips to visit but being hundreds of miles away it isn’t easy. What is the church to do. When circumstances seem hopeless. When the road seems to long and dark. How are we to continue to love and serve our senior brothers and sisters? The Bible tells us that Jesus had those moments, when no words could express His heart for the situation of His friend Lazarus. People have given a thousand reasonable explanations for the theology behind these two words which form the shortest verse in the Bible. Yet, I suspect that there is a depth of compassion and love that is only understood by those who are truly broken by the sorrows of others.

Jesus wept John 11:35 KJV

Yes, of course Jesus knew what He would do. He realized that in mere moments, Lazarus would walk out of the grave. Yet He paused on the way and shared His tears with those of His friends. It reminds me of the moment thirty years ago when my mother was in hospice. I had driven out to spend some days with her in the hospital and then ridden along as they transported her to the hospice. But we lived four hours away and I had to return home to be with my wife and teenaged sons and work. That Sunday, my friend Jerry greeted me on the way out of church and asked, “How’s your mom?” I was grateful for his concern, but as I opened my mouth to try and explain, no words would come. I suddenly felt weak and sat down and simply wept for several minutes while Jerry laid his hand on my shoulder. Life is like that. There are times both in family life and in long-term-care ministry where words are far too insufficient. How precious it is that we have a Savior who comes and sits by our side and weeps with us! We learn more of His heart in those moments than anywhere else on earth!