The Day After Tomorrow

After 20 hours behind the wheel, 1300 miles and way too many diet Cokes, I finally slept in my own bed last night. You see, I had driven to Independence, Kansas, to participate in John Palmer's memorial service this past Monday. It was one of those sad celebrations. Sad because we won't be able to fellowship with John for a while, yet a celebration over the fact that he lived well and because of his faith we know where he is.

I seem to be doing more funerals lately and they are for people who are closer to me in age. At 62 I realize that I'm not so old when compared to some but I also see that if I should live as long as my dad did I've only got 20 years left. And if they go by as quickly as the last 20 did, well.....that's just the day after tomorrow.

So what do we do with our time? I find myself wasting way too much, but there are some things that seem to grow in importance. I want to make sure that Jane knows how much she's loved. I want my daughters to know how proud I am of them. I want my sons-in-law to know what a privilege I think it is to be "family" with them. They're just awesome. I want my grandsons to know grandpa and to know how much they are loved by the big old guy who insists on teasing them and tickling them. And even though I'm not serving in a full time position as pastor these days I stll want my life to count for Christ. I want to find ways to encourage folks. My favorite phrase for several years has been to tell people, "you're probably doing better than you think you are."

I'm reminded of a sermon that I preached years ago. It was called "Finish Like A Pro." I'm not sure I did that in my last full time assignment. I have some regrets there. But as long as I have breath I still have days to change the outcome when it comes to the big issue of life. I want to be able to say with the Apostle Paul, "for me to live is Christ, to die is gain."

Rest well, John Palmer

Blog

Blog. What a funny word. Does anyone know what it means? I’m sure that the four letters stand for something, I just don’t know what. On the other hand, blogging is something that I’ve been doing once a week for over 38 years. We just didn’t call it a blog in those days. You see, as a pastor - the churches I served always published either a mid-week newsletter or a Sunday bulletin that required a column by the pastor.


I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat before a blank sheet of paper and tried to decide what great words of wisdom I should pen. I just assumed that if I started to write, Niagara’s of literary genius would begin to tumble forth from my fertile mind. I was wrong. I did, however, always find something that I thought would be informative or amusing.


After becoming “semi-retired” just over a year ago I thought that those days of writing a column were over.  But with the encouragement of my oldest daughter I’ve entered the world of the blog and find myself once again sitting before a blank page and trying to think of something to write that might cause anyone to even care enough to read it.


I promise you this. I’ll do my best to update this site once a week with a story or an observation that might at least be interesting and at most, illicit a giggle. I’ll share different chapters from my own faith walk, our travels, our family and the unusual work of the church. So….check back occasionally take a short ride with me.

Changes

The past month has been surreal in many ways. For the first time in 38 years Jane and I are "between assignments." That might be a nice thing to experience if not for the fact that both of us are trying to figure out the best way to care for aging parents. On February 6th our 4th grandson was born. John Timothy. On the 9th I flew out of California having just experienced the great joy of a new grandson, yet on my way to Kansas where my father is struggling with dementia. He still knows the family, but when I arrived at the farm he assumed he was at MY house. Later, Jane and I drove to Wichita to close out her mother's house in preparation for a sale. At the nursing home Jane said, "I love you mom." Her mother replied, "I love you too. I don't know who you are, but I love you."

Life is filled with cycles. The sobering thought is that I'm next in line. I think I'm already getting forgetful. Kids, get ready to care for a pretty stubborn old man.