Better Days Ahead

One of the blessings of being young is that most of your friends and family are still living. When we are children we can’t appreciate the fact that our parents are alive and relatively healthy. Friends are forever, life is predictable and we are caught up in the excitement of being young and energetic.

A downside of getting old, if we live long enough to obtain that distinction, is that many of our friends and family members are no longer alive. And a lot of those who are still alive seem to be struggling and fighting to keep going. Parents are gone, aunts and uncles are gone as well as other extended family members. And possibly several of our closest friends are gone. When we get old we find ourselves talking a lot about days long ago. We relish in our thoughts of the good old days which maybe were not as good as we think they were.

For Sherri and me so many of our friends are basically gone from our lives. Having served as pastor in five churches, teaching in three schools and living in several different communities we have left behind hundreds of wonderful friends. I realize that we most likely will never see most of them again, especially since we now live so far away in North Carolina. I have lost touch with friends from childhood that at the time I thought I would be with the rest of my life. I don’t know their children, their grandchildren and in some cases I don’t even know where they live.

So as we get older we talk about people and experiences from our past. We are so much further removed from those days than we are from the time when we will leave this world. I know that my homegoing is not that far away. I’m in relatively good health, but in a few months I will turn 70. So how do we keep from wallowing in the mire of sadness and depression knowing our time on earth is very close?

We survive by enjoying each moment that God gives us with the family and friends remaining in our lives. We continue to spend time with our best friend, Jesus serving him with all of our might. We continue to tell him everything, and trust him to take care of us no matter what a new day brings. But most of all we keep reminding ourselves that there are better days ahead. We can look forward to the time when Jesus takes us to our permanent home to be with him forever. We’ll have a lot of catching up to do with old friends and our dear family. Yet, I assure you, our greatest pleasure will be to see Jesus in all of his glory.