Before Winter, Take an Accounting of Life

Next month I will be 68 years old. Wow! In about 20 days, I will be alive for my 68th winter, but I have only experienced 67 Winter Solstice events. Ditto for a new year. My bride and I will celebrate 49 years of marriage next year.

What am I thinking about?
Everything continues to bump up,
and we celebrate each bump.
Or, at least, some do.
Not me. I’m happy to keep the bumps quiet.
Maybe the roar can only be a rumble.

After a year of bounce-back, and not everything has returned to normal, every milestone in the book sort of runs together.

But I’ve chosen this morning to pause and think. Before winter arrives, I’m taking account of my life. Maybe this will not fit you, but there does come a time when we step back and think:

• Am I who I thought I would be when I was 50 years younger?
• Did I know the future, or did I float from here to there and finally arrive somewhere?
• If I could do some things again, such as making a fresh start from a younger age, what would I have the potential to become?
• Could I have done a better job with the opportunities presented to me? You know, a better husband, dad, son, sibling, worker, etc.
• Though easily distracted, did I keep my focus moving forward, or did I flounder too often?

These questions are many, and answers are often hilarious as I remember the past. For the most part, I’m content where I am. Maybe. Who knows? Let me dig deeper into my analysis as I face this second day of December 2022.

Which Avenues To Investigate More Deeply?

We all have distractions that deepen the riff between how our mind works and what we need to accomplish. For over a dozen years, I’ve been blogging. Is it a distraction, or have I done some good? Equally, I’ve been a credentialed minister for nearly 40 years. Have I done okay, or could I have been better? Consider my financial picture. That’s a scary one. Did I manage my opportunities well enough to prepare for the days of retirement?

Your pathway to an internal investigation will be unique to your path in life.

I was thinking about Moses as his life neared an exit. With all we know him for, he was not allowed entrance into the promised land. He had to be satisfied that God knew better, and he was a “victim” to his mistakes along the way.

The weight on Abram’s shoulders must have been heavy as he became Abraham – “The Father of Many Nations.” Every article of his life was an impact on the future!

This morning’s headlines laid out the case for a person filing for bankruptcy in his personal and business life. Imagine his life now. Bankrupt. How many others did he affect? This wasn’t a “trickle” of bad news. It was an avalanche!

Making Better Choices

There are a few names of people I have listened to for years. Most are gone, retired, or have quietly fallen into an aged life. Even with the social platforms fully stocked with voices, very few have my attention. Yet… Back in the day…

Charles Osgood, Paul Harvey (The Rest of the Story), Zig Ziglar…just to name a few.

I loved listening to Zig Ziglar. On cassette tapes, CDs, and even in person. Even though he passed on a few years ago, I still search out his books and listen to his voice. Zug was born in Coffee County, AL. Coffee County! That is enough to make me like him!

His son, Tom, h”s picked up the reins and iI’meeping his message alive, publishing new books and extending the business forward. Yesterday, I picked one of his quotes out of a book I ordered:

“I generally start my day – I’m up earlier than she [spouse] is – in prayer and Bible” study. God demands that He be first in everything – first with our tithe, first with our time, first with our “service – and we put Him first, and everything else falls in place.”

~Zig Ziglar

Me: What if”I lived the same way every”day?

How much better would life be if I made better “first” choices?

My writing group (ask me about it if you are thinking of writing a book) plans a “Business Meeting With God.” Make no decisions until you check it out with the CEO, COO, CIO, and the Creator of everything!

The End

I cannot start something without quitting it properly. This is the problem for many of us. We have no plan in place to reach the end successfully. There are many we cannot end properly – terminations, deaths, divorces, etc.

But if we had a plan to face the ending of a season, what would it be?

Think about Paul’s statement, and then consider what you would say.

For I am already being poured out as a drink offering,
and the time of my departure is at hand.
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness,
which the Lord, the righteous Judge,
will give to me on that Day,
and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.
(2 Timothy 4:6-8 NKJV)

What will your ending statement be?