11/5/18-11/9/18 Devo One - Vicki Wagner

This is the first devotional for the week of November 5-9. This is a devotional from Vicki Wagner on her reflection on turning 65. Read this devotional and let us know what you think by leaving a comment below the post. Your comments give you devotion credit.

 

Turning 65 this week makes me think about how the finish line is getting closer than ever. People say I take after my grandmother in many ways, and she lived to be 94. I've always clung to that idea of being like her! And Yes, I AM the oldest person in the Conservatory. God led me here 13 years ago, when I was looking for my next big thing. Helping realize The Conservatory turned out to be it.

The Bible says: “The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength, eighty” (Psalms 90:10). But, also:  “My times are in your hand” (Psalms 31:15). We don’t live one day longer or shorter than God has planned for us. I never expected to be this age, but then again, I never expected NOT to be. I just lived my seasons as they were granted to me.

When I see people older (or sometimes even younger) than me, it's hard to put myself in that category. I don’t look or walk or act that way, do I?!? When I interact with most of you, I feel that we are all about the same age. I don’t feel too much older, at least. I throw away most AARP and other senior mailings, and for at least a year, I've been bombarded with Medicare information in the mail, in spam phone calls, and on TV (I guess I'm just now noticing those).

In your late 50’s, early 60’s, you “start” to wonder about retirement, wanting to spend more time with grandchildren, and travel more and do other things “before I get old.”  Friends and family get diseases they struggle with, some pass on. I'm wondering what God's plan is for me? I pray about that every day, for God to enlighten me during this period of reflection.

I have a close friend who calls it "refirement" not retirement. He left his Silicon Valley job and he now volunteers on a Lutheran seminary board of directors, for his city planning commission, and as a driver for Open Heart Kitchen, seeking out homeless people in the bushes to serve hot meals to. He’s living his passion, and is busier and more fulfilled than ever.

So how can I get refired?  I think we need to do that throughout our lives, "refire" ourselves and our goals, not just when we hit 65. I have done that several times in my life. After I had kids. After my kids started school. After my kids were in college. After they moved out (at least one has so far). I think it’s about time to refire again.

I found some fun facts about some “old” people you may know:

·       At 65 Winston Churchill became Prime Minister of England, and for the next five years led the Western world to freedom.

·       At 65, a week before he died, Bach dictated changes to his last piece “When We Are in Greatest Distress.”

·       At 69 English writer and lexicographer Samuel Johnson began his last major work, The Lives of the English Poets.

·       At 67, the age he died, Leonardo da Vinci was still working on his mathematical studies and scientific research

·       At 69 Ronald Reagan became the oldest man ever sworn in as President of the United States. He was reelected at 73. (warning - political comment:  that record was broken in 2016. Not sure that's a good thing).

·       At 70 Benjamin Franklin helped draft the Declaration of Independence.

·       At 76, Stephen Hawking did not quit until the day he died.

·       At 77 John Glenn became the oldest person to go into space.

·       At 77 Grandma Moses started painting.

·       At 82 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe finished writing his famous Faust.

·       At 82 Winston Churchill wrote A History of the English-Speaking Peoples.

·       At 88 Michelangelo created the architectural plans for the Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli.

·       At 89 Albert Schweitzer ran a hospital in Africa.

·       At 89 Arthur Rubinstein performed one of his greatest recitals in Carnegie Hall.

·       At 93 Strom Thurmond, the longest-serving senator in U.S. history, won reelection after promising not to run again at age 99.

·       At 93 P.G. Wodehouse worked on his 97th novel, got knighted, and died.

So, youngster colleagues, keep on doing and being where God has placed you. Keep praying. Keep on loving your family, raising your kids, doing good work, enriching your students’ lives, thinking about where you are, what you're doing, what's important, and what God wants you to do next. Pray that you get to have a “next.”

That's where my thoughts are at right now. Grateful to be this age, grateful for my many blessings, grateful for the work God has given me throughout my life, and looking forward to the rest of His plan for my life.

I’ll keep you posted!