You Can't Teach an Old Dog New Tricks - Grow Up, Not Old, Part 3 - Tuesday's Treasure

The first time I heard the phrase "ever growing, ever green"  was in reference to my then seventy-something father. My mother had died the year before. Though physically fragile, she had planned to attend a national women's conference with my sisters and her granddaughters in keeping with her lifelong practice of supporting and applauding every achievement of her children and grandchildren. She wanted to be part of this historic event where I had the privilege of teaching a seminar on grief and speaking on Sunday morning. In addition to co-leading worship, our son Chuck was giving a mini-piano concert Saturday night. Though it required travel to Atlanta, Georgia, my mother was determined to be part of this family moment. Because of her uncertain health needs, my father planned to accompany her. My mother died in December, 1998, but she left a well-taught husband. In keeping with his desire to continue her legacy, Daddy decided to attend the all women's conference, along with my husband. Close to thirty family members, including our daughter, daughter-in-law, soon to be daughter-in-law, our other son, all of my sisters, sister-in-laws, and many of my nieces gathered at the women's conference, ready to enjoy family and inspiration. Over thirty women from our church joined in. When the organizers realized the beauty of the covenant promises of God that our family reflected, they asked my father to introduce me. Only those who know my father understand what a huge task lay before him. Until my mother's death, Daddy was a man of few words - he let Mommy do the talking - which she gladly did. To think of him in front of 3000 women, speaking about his daughter and family (especially so soon after my mother's death), was more than I could imagine. But I gave him the invitation and after a split second of silence, he accepted the task. Let the praying begin!

As I review my parents' lives I realize that in keeping with his character and lifelong response to opportunities, my father had no choice but to say "yes" to the privilege of choosing to step outside of his comfort zone and proclaim the faithfulness of God with his lips, just as he had often done with his actions. Psalm 92:12 - 15 paints a picture of one who is "ever-growing, ever green."

The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, "The Lord is upright; he is my Rock and there is no wickedness in him."

My father never stopped producing fruit.  Up to the last days of his life he proclaimed, "The Lord is upright;he is my Rock and there is no wickedness in him."

If You Can Do Something for the Lord, You Need to do It
Many people sought counsel from my father.  In his latter years, his response was always the same, "If you can do something for the Lord, you need to do it."  No matter how difficult or impossible the obstacles appeared.  He delighted in seeing God overcome those hard places and often boasted to others of how God was building His kingdom through the obedience of people who knew that only through God's grace would anything good come from their efforts. Only God knows the ever widening circle of eternal Kingdom building that flowed from people taking his counsel seriously. From the time of my teens, my parents encouraged me to see possibilities, not impossibilities. Along with my siblings, I have walked through open doors that lead to tasks way outside of my comfort zone. Tasks that often require enormous effort and a self-emptying. I take no personal credit for any of these moments. The older I get the more I realize my parents taught me by their own lives, that we should always be open to the possibilities of new opportunities, especially those that could have an eternal impact.

Grow Up!  Not Old!
In the previous two Grow Up - Not Old posts (Grow Up, Not Old, Part 1 and Morning by Morning New Wrinkles I See) we began considering the Apostle Paul's last days, looking for clues to help us better understand how to walk this pathway of aging.  Paul often declared through his own life, "Nothing is impossible with God."  He obeyed God's call, even when he was afraid. Those who knew my father, especially in his last season of life on earth, would agree that was also his mantra.

Our Father was a Flawed Man
Over the past few days I joined my siblings to clean out our childhood home.

Our Childhood Home

We moved into that house when I was sixteen years old.  Such conflicting emotions overwhelmed us as we set about the enormous task of sorting through a lifetime of memories.  Sorrow, grief, tears, all there.  But sometimes the tears were in response to the uncontrollable belly laughter that unlocked emotional energy. We talked as only siblings can, about how our father was a flawed man but that grace never stopped its work in his heart.  Shortly after our mother's death, Daddy told our brother, "I know I have a reputation for being harsh, but I'm trying to change.  I hope people give me a second chance."  In those few words, Daddy made a profound declaration that revealed his own theology.  Some say you cannot teach an old dog new tricks.  Perhaps.  But Grace can transform an old man with a "reputation for being harsh" into a man who reflected the humility and servant's heart of Jesus.  Everyone who knew Daddy in his later years comment, "Your father was such a humble, gentle man.  A real servant."  Daddy got his wish.  God changed him and people gave him a second chance.

The Apostle Paul declared, Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.  Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.  But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in  Christ  Jesus.  Philippians 3:12-13

Paul chose obedience and he chose to soak in grace. My heart overflows with joy that God's grace invites us to turn our hearts from the past mistakes and sin, and enables us to view life through the grid of His redeeming love.  He enables us to obey, even when the task is not one of our choosing or liking.  In Morning by Morning New Wrinkles I See  I concluded that the messages of the world cultivate discontentment about our appearances.  As we continue to unpack Paul's last words, we will discover that the root of discontentment grows in the dirt of wrong theology and doesn't just influence our view of the physical.  How could my father encourage anyone who asked for his counsel, "If you can do something for the Lord, you need to do it." His theology equipped him with confidence, the same confidence of Paul who declared, "BUT the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed."

Grow up!  Not Old!  Is it even possible?

In His Grip,
Sharon