Growing old, a series of losses and exciting new opportunities<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This post was first part of my monthly email. newsletter. I suppose it is inevitable that given the passing of the final Together On A Mission I would be\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/adrianwarnock\/2011\/09\/growing-old-a-series-of-losses-and-exciting-new-opportunities\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Growing old, a series of losses and exciting new opportunities\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This post was first part of my monthly email. newsletter. 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This post was first part of my monthly email. newsletter.<\/div>\n

I suppose it is inevitable that given the passing of the final Together On A Mission<\/em> I would be reflecting on my own aging process. \u00a0The truth is that from the time that you wear your last nappy (or diaper for my American readers) aging represents a series of losses. \u00a0I have attended my last day at school and university. \u00a0I have sat my last exam (I hope!) \u00a0I have spent my last day as a bachelor. I have attended, I am almost certain, the last birth of a child of mine. \u00a0I may even have moved for the last time, as I intend to live in this house for as long as possible! \u00a0Perhaps I am already a member of my last church, as I am convinced that I am meant to stay long-term at Jubilee Church. \u00a0One day I will spend the last day at work, though that day is probably still a long time coming. \u00a0At some point I will preach my last sermon. \u00a0And then, one thing at a time I will face a series of losses.\u00a0 I hope that the last blog post will perhaps be one of the last of these losses, even if I have to dictate them to my nurse!<\/p>\n

Looked at in the way above, aging can seem a very depressing thing. \u00a0No wonder we live in a world that is so enamored with youth and the latest fad. \u00a0But it is not the way God sees aging. \u00a0Yes, perhaps we loose many things the older we get. \u00a0But we also gain much. \u00a0I have much still to look forward to. \u00a0I am only 40. \u00a0When a man like Terry Virgo was only 40, he was really just beginning! \u00a0 Indeed. men much older then I am are demonstrating regularly to us that it is not all about the young! \u00a0The Bible honors the wisdom that experience can bring if it is well responded to. I might well have more than half of my life yet.<\/p>\n

To me the secret of aging well is realizing that none of the things we do are what define us or give us value. \u00a0God will still love you and I when there is nothing we can do for his kingdom except sit and graciously accept our frailty. \u00a0In fact the very frailty that will eventually grip us is always present with us to a certain extent. \u00a0With the bravado of youth we think that we can conquer the world.\u00a0 The reality is, we can do nothing without God.\u00a0 We would be nothing without God. His view is that when we are weak then we are strong, and he can be most glorified in us.<\/p>\n

Older people can bring wisdom and experience.\u00a0 True, these are not automatic accompaniments of age, but they are not possible without it. Older people have made lots of mistakes.\u00a0 Hopefully they have learnt from them.\u00a0 One of the massive opportunities that is then before them is to look for those younger people who are willing to listen to them.\u00a0 I recently asked my son what the definition of wisdom was, he replied \u201clearning from your mistakes.\u201d\u00a0 My retort was, \u201cyes, but I guess even better than that is to learn from other people\u2019s mistakes!\u201d\u00a0 I suppose that one of the massive and growing opportunities of growing older is the chance to succeed through others.\u00a0 If never before, you should have the joy of encouraging those younger than you, and perhaps even seeing them go further than before. The example of Barnabas<\/a> is one for us to meditate on.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"