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Once upon a time I felt like I could live forever and had strength, vitality and vigour. As a 20 year old I had many hobbies and interests such as horse riding, playing squash and tennis, swimming, yoga, jogging, working out and “pumping iron” at the gym. Not too many years later we welcomed the birth of our first child from which I bounced back almost immediately even despite a Caesarean section due to an emergency. Full time work, children, household duties, university studies, and all the other things that fill our lives eventually led many years later to the official title of “empty nester”.
Considering the milestone events such as turning 10 was significant to me at the time as I entered the double digits…”now I am really growing up” were among my excited thoughts. Becoming 18 was nice, 21 even better, 30 was for me, like alright, that’s as far as I want to go...now it is all downhill! What was I thinking!? Then came 40 — apparently time for a mid life crisis. After that there was 50 or the “new 40” (tongue in cheek) however it was time for menopause which thankfully was a few sweaty nights and some hot flashes and it was over as quickly as it began. I did feel slightly guilty because so many of my friends and work colleagues seemed to lament of struggling so much, even going so far as wearing patches and taking medicine to combat their suffering. I considered myself very lucky at the time but now I know it was not luck, but I was instead blessed. Luck is no longer in my vocabulary now that I realise God is the only one who blesses us in various ways.
Now I have attained 60 and am almost 12 months into this wonderful age of joining the ranks of senior folk in Australia for which we can apply for a Seniors Card. This was one of the first things I did as I am well pleased to be 60 and have recognition to live so long. It truly is a blessing and I found myself as excited to turn 60 as I was to turn 10. Life has almost come full circle as I feel childlike again. Some refer to this as living out your second childhood but this time with financial benefits and with knowledge and wisdom. The term “ageing disgracefully” is not something I want to relate to like owning a motorcycle or bungee jumping. For me attaining 60 years is to be celebrated respectfully by giving grateful thanks to God for allowing me to live this long and enjoy a life of true contentment as this particular phase is what I have come to consider the best for so many reasons. One of which is time to slow down and really enjoy the simple things in life such as spending time with loved ones enjoying their company, relishing the weekly Sabbath and all that comes with it, having a work/life balance that is pleasurably sustainable, and free time to walk on the beach or have a picnic, drive through the hills and appreciate the beautiful countryside.
As we journey on in this life we invariably notice that our physicality becomes weaker with various aches and pains related to injuries from things we have done in the past such as falling off horses or falling down stairs; even just spraining an ankle thereby causing a weakness in that joint and making it more susceptible to further spraining. Joints wear out especially if playing contact sports for many years and many an “oldie” goes under the knife for total knee replacement surgery. Thankfully I am not there yet and that is why it is very important to get outdoors for vitamin D and some gentle exercise such as walking or swimming which supports painful joints. Walking used to be something I would do after work as I wanted the dogs to enjoy an outing after being inside all day while I was at work. Then there was only one dog; and then there were none. So I stopped walking and grieved instead.
Fast forward to a few years later and upon reflection, I have come to realise just how much I miss walking. My favourite place to walk is on the beach and I could stay there all day as it is such a therapeutic place for me. However I need to balance these visits for when back home as country work takes up a fair portion of my life. Sleeping in foreign beds that are too hard or too soft where both of us roll into each other is a challenge and recently have noticed my shoulders are hurting. Physically I consider myself in reasonable condition but think spiritually I am much stronger if comparing the two. Some work needs to be done in order to increase physical well being. Walking around dusty old streets doesn't thrill me in the hot windy town where we travel to each week. It puts me off just thinking about it and I realised that we just couldn’t do it when the temperatures were around 100 degrees or more. I used to jog or run around the Torrens River when working in the city on my hourly lunch breaks when in my 20s, even on days where the temperatures soared as I was young, healthy, and incredibly fit. Now I am satisfied just to walk at a much slower pace and carefully watch uneven footpaths, and all the potential hazards where spraining an ankle is quite likely.
Combining the physical needs of exercise and the spiritual needs of spreading the gospel of the good news of Jesus Christ’s return to usher in the Kingdom of God is such a motivating concept to us. So much so that that is one formula for good health and prevention of illness we like to engage in. We letterbox drop leaflets from the United Church of God head office in Queensland, Australia who are very happy to mail out 500, 1,000 or more of these to anyone willing to put their feet on the ground and “pound the footpaths” or “the pavements” as they say. Sounds simple and it is...anyone can do it and yet, until I tried it, I had no way of realising how exciting it could be. The challenge of every house in every street of any country town takes time but with diligence it can be done. We started at First Street through to Eleventh Street and found that Twelfth Street did not exist...and so we moved on to nearby streets on the map carefully planning out sections so nobody will miss out. Some people come out to meet you while others, thankfully not many, look sternly as they grab the leaflet and wad it up right then and there. Never mind — we keep going. People are funny and at the end of the day we can have a good laugh about it all. Sad to say but some country people are as stressed and cranky as their city cousins.
Is it worth it? “You bet it is!” is our reply in a heartbeat. Imagine if even just one out of 16,000 people (in this town) sends away for literature, begins reading Beyond Today magazines and starts attending services. As we know, anything is possible with God (Matthew 19:26) and so we just go for it knowing God wants us to have active faith (James 2:26). Even if one of us ends up wheelchair bound one can still walk and push the wheelchair while the other holds the leaflets for distribution. There may come a time when either one of us may not be physically well enough to do this type of activity, but until then, we soldier on, dusty streets or not, taking it all in stride, knowing that we are a very small part of the work of the Church. I hear the hymn playing in my head...like a mighty army moves the Church of God from the hymn “Onward Christian Soldiers” and I am stirred into action because the words are so powerfully motivating. We are labourers out in the field whether the sun beats down, the rain pours, the dogs bark, or whether the people are unwelcoming...we keep on keeping on (Luke 10:2; Matthew 9:37-38).
Yes, we become tired while brushing off the flies and shielding our eyes from the penetrating rays of the sun even while wearing sunglasses, experience sore feet, get thirsty and feel like we just want to sit down and rest. This is nothing compared to what the apostle Paul went through and endured. Do we remember the passage from scripture in 2 Corinthians? Here it is to read and reflect upon...2 Corinthians 12:9-10 “And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong”. Just like Paul we feel stronger when we are weak as we are gaining Christ. Prayers for protection and safety, for strength to keep on going, for His blessing over all that we do according to His will are important before we go out.
Other scriptures which are most helpful and supportive to meditate upon concerning our human, frail condition come from Isaiah 35:3-4 “Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are faint-hearted, “Be strong, do not fear!” In Isaiah 40:29-31 we see “He gives power to the weak and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint”.
We encourage anyone to join us in this incredibly, exciting work to spread the good news of the gospel! If we can do it despite all our physical afflictions, then you can too. Please give it a go and see if it doesn’t increase your faith, your joy, your love, your purpose in life. Finally, in the apostle Paul’s words in Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”.