Unfathomable Grace

I am 54 years old. I have less hair, less muscles, and less vitality. I also have less days of life left. Additionally, I have more wrinkles, more weight, more cholesterol, and more hairs growing in odd places. I can pretend. I can primp. I can posture. However, I am no longer a young man. Yes, I have ridden a good many miles. There is a good amount of water that has gone under my bridge.

However, as of today, I also have more descendant and more love. I do not know from whence this immediate affection came. It is just instant. It is just here. It is real.

And today, perhaps I have more wisdom too.

Friends, when I look back at my life, I focused on so many lesser things. There were jobs to land, deals to make, degrees to earn, houses to buy, trophies to collect, arguments to win, and churches to build.

However, if I could turn back time, I would do life differently. I would focus on relationships. I would slow my restless head down, look my sons and daughter in the eye, and enjoy reading books, taking walks, and rocking back and forth in our favorite chair. I would cherish the smell of soapy skin, a freshly changed diaper, and a newly washed blanket.

And so, this time around, I plan on learning from the past. I plan on seizing the day. I intend to be a more intimate son of my Heavenly Father, a more tender son to my earthy and aging mom and dad, a better husband, a sharper father to Joseph, Ashlyn, and Andrew, and the best grandfather ever. Who knows, perhaps I will even better love my church brothers and sisters and lost sinners too.

Yes, I want to live life and love people as did Jesus. I want to seize the day and “be done with lesser things.” People are eternal. People matter.