My Next 40 Years

I turned 42 this summer.  I have a great family, awesome jobs and amazing friends.  But I still end up wondering, "is this really what God wants me to be doing right now? " Some days I feel like I'm on the cusp of something, being prepared for a grand adventure into what God really wants me to do with my life.  Then I'll remember that I'm 42.  I'll think "Shouldn't I be grown up by now?  Shouldn't I be doing whatever it is God wants me to do with my life by now?  Have I failed?"

I love the Old Testament.  It is filled with stories of people screwing up God's promises and God redeeming them anyway.  Of course there is a lot of God punishing people for their screw ups but still, there's redemption.  Don't get me wrong, I love, Love, LOVE Jesus.  I'm so thankful he came to replace the law that the Old Testament folks couldn't keep.  I am so thankful that my salvation is based on Jesus' sacrifice and grace and not on my ability to keep the law.  I would fail so miserably at keeping the law.  Oh, I'd work super hard at it but then someone would make me mad and I'd be in trouble all over again.

Yesterday I started reading Exodus.  Exodus 1 details Pharaoh's plan to kill all the male babies born to the Israelites.  But God used the midwives to save the babies.  Then in Exodus 2 we read about  how Moses' sister and mother saved him.   And not only did they save him, he ended up as Pharaoh's grandson.  I love God's ways, he has such an awesome sense of humor.

What caught my eye and attention this morning were the headings in Exodus 2.  The first heading says Moses' first forty years.  Under that heading is the story of how Moses' was saved as a baby.  The next heading is Moses' second forty years.  Under that heading is the story of Moses killing an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew, hiding the body and then running away from Pharaoh who wanted to kill him.  Not a very mature leader.

Wow! When Moses was in his 40s God was still preparing him for what was to come.  Is it possible that God is still preparing me for what He has in store for me?  LORD, I hope so! I understand that people in the Old Testament lived much longer than we do today.  I'm not a Bible scholar so I don't know if they really lived so much longer or if they had shorter years or what.  I'm not really concerned with that.

My point is that God provides hope in the strangest of places.  This morning it was through 2 headings in the Bibles.  Headings that were probably added by men many years after Exodus was written.  But still God used those headings to give me hope.  To speak to me and reassure that the best is yet to come.  To let me know that He is always in control.  He is preparing a way for me.  He is preparing me for the way.  God has big things planned for my next 40 years.  I can't wait.

Life Well Led

My boys with Grandpa Mays at his favorite place - Wendy's

What are the hallmarks of a life well led?

Generosity?

Service?

Love?

My Grandpa Mays certainly embodied all these things.  But to him, the hallmark of a life well led was the life led for Christ.

When I was a little girl, I loved spending time with Grandpa Mays and Grandmomma Joyce on the farm.  I would get up on Saturday morning and set up a stand at the edge of the road selling cantaloupes.  After I'd sold them all, I'd run back into the house and sit in the kitchen with Grandpa.  He'd help me count the money.  Without fail, he'd say "10% for Jesus, the rest is for you."

Grandpa never missed an opportunity to talk about his blessed savior.

After his stroke, my momma took B to see him.  Grandpa and B were good friends.  B tried to teach Grandpa to play Angry Birds that day.  But Grandpa was worried about something bigger, "Does B know Jesus?"  B must have been hyper focused on Angry Birds because he didn't answer Grandpa right away. Grandpa asked again.  B said "Yes! Jesus was the Son of God who died for our sins!" I can't imagine anything making Grandpa Mays any prouder.

That was his deepest desire for all of us.  That we would know and love Jesus the way he did.  Grandpa sought after Jesus.  He was enthralled by him.

Sunday afternoon after he had passed, we were waiting with him for the funeral home personnel.  I opened his Bible.  It was a sea of red underlining.  In true Grandpa style, it looked like he had used a ruler to underline.  He was precise!

But it wasn't the underlining that caught my attention.  It was his distinctive handwriting.  Peppered through out the scriptures are his notes.  Simple, wonderful notes.  "Thank you!" Over and over "Thank you!".   With an occasional "Wow!"  He never stopped being thankful for the the love Jesus had shown him.

That is his legacy.  His love of Jesus Christ.  His service to Jesus Christ.  His generosity to share that love with us.  Because of his obedience to share the Good News, an entire family has been impacted.  I have been impacted.  My boys have been impacted.

Because Grandpa loved Jesus, he could love us more fully.  He pointed us to the love of Jesus Christ. And now we have the opportunity to continue his work.  By sharing the Good News with those around us.  By falling in love with Jesus.

Right now, I am studying Acts.  Tuesday morning I studies Acts 5.  Jesus had been crucified and resurrected.  The apostles had been given the Holy Spirit to help them continue Jesus' work.  They were preaching and stirring anger in the hearts of the Jewish leaders.  They had been arrested, tried, flogged and released.  And yet, the pressed on.  The last verse of that chapter applies beautifully to Grandpa Mays.

I am so grateful that I was able to share these words at Grandpa Mays' funeral on 

Wednesday, June 1, 2016.