Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him - Psalm 37:7

Well, sweet friends, it has been a long time since we chatted...over a year!  A new chapter has begun for us...my husband, Don, has recently retired from a career in ministry that has lasted over 40 years.  I couldn't begin to tell you the emotions that we have both experienced in the process!  We are still trying to figure out what "retirement" means...the dictionary definition says it means to "cease from work"...REALLY?  That's not even what we want, let alone anticipate!

For the believer in Christ, we believe even when we are old there is work to be done.  The Bible is full of people and ideas as to what working for the senior should look like.  Eugene Peterson put it simply for all of us to say:  "We do not live to ourselves...everything we do is in relation to the God who made us and cares for us."  Are you living and working for Him or for yourself?  Am I?

So we "wait patiently" for the Lord to give us wisdom in this new season.  Jan Silvious in her book COURAGE FOR THE UNKNOWN SEASON SAYS:
         
                                                  At every stage of life we have a purpose.  And
                                                 no matter your age, from millennial to boomer and
                                                 beyond, if you're going to live, you might as well
                                                 live as well as possible to fulfill the purpose for
                                                 which you were made.

Rebecca Lutzer says:  The work that God does in us while we wait is more important than the thing we wait for".   So, Don and I wait patiently...spending more (not less) time with the Lord in His word, taking one step forward toward what we believe He would have us do and continue using His gifts to us for Him.  He did not gift us to only sit back and rest at this stage of life (although we love that part of this chapter too!).  He will continue to use us - by His grace - until He decides to take us to heaven with him.

For further study:  Gen. 12:1-4, Joshua 1:9, Psalm 40:1-4, Psalm 46:10, Isaiah 43:7, Lamentations 3:22-24, Romans 8:25, Ephesians 2:10, Colossians 3:12, Galatians 5:22-23.

Be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

Love,
Holly