Not old yet ... but getting there

As Jakeb and I spent a couple of days away camping I noticed how he seemed to have this endless energy and I didn’t. He always wanted to climb and jump off of the tree one more time. He wanted to swim a bit longer. He wanted to stay at Landa Park just one more hour and jump off of the rope swing just one more time. I didn’t slow him down too much but when the day was done I was just tired. Physically tired.

I have always been the one envied by others for my endless supply of energy and now I envy my son for the same.

My plan in life was to never get old. I am not that old now, but I always want to be in good enough shape to keep up with my kids. I’m only thirty-eight but Jakeb ran me into the ground over the first three days of this week. I must have been coming down with something – I can’t be getting old … not yet life is just starting.

Rich Mullins wrote:

God lets us struggle and prosper – we don’t all struggle and prosper the same, but we all do both to some degree. And when we have done enough to think more highly of ourselves than we should, God lets us age. And as we age, we begin to forget stuff; our joints stiffen; our heads go a little soft. We drive slower and are less driven, are more embarrassed and are less likely to die of that embarrassment and more likely to die of natural causes. Getting old is part of getting past whatever illusions we have about ourselves. It is part of getting free – free from reasonable doubts, irrational conceits, false securities, displaced affections …

And so, let me grow. Let me grow old. Let me grow free. Even if I have to repeat myself to do it.