"One of the greatest uses of Twitter and Facebook will be to prove at the Last Day that prayerlessness was not from lack of time." ~ John Piper

Good morning. It is Tuesday, April 24, 2018, and it is good to be able to greet you once again. A couple of weeks ago, I was very happy that our eldest, Chris, and middle, Jimmy, were able to go with me to a men's breakfast early on a Saturday morning at the meeting place where the wife and I are members at our local fellowship of believers. There were about 75 men who showed up for this gathering. The speaker was an older guy who had many years of ministry and experiences to share. Our youngest, Rodney, had planned on being there but it didn't work out for him. Since this group was made up entirely of men, our speaker was very direct in addressing head-on the issues that keep men from being the spiritual leaders God would have them to be. Much of what he said stung but it was coming from a man with a genuine heart of love and concern for the role of men in God's plan and purpose. The boys being with me made me proud. I left that meeting with one quote stuck in my mind. It's something he quoted from American author and preacher, Francis Chan, "Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter." I'm still chewing on that cud. It may take me a while to digest it. That's probably something we all could spend time thinking about. Amen.

We visited a dear friend in the hospital last Saturday afternoon. The nurse came in to check on her. Really? That young woman looked like she had shown up for a dress-up day as a nurse. She looked maybe in her early teens. One suggestion said perhaps she was a part of the bring your daughter to work program. Unfortunately, it has more to do with my age, than the age of the young woman. They get younger every time I see them. The longer I go places, it is the younger the folks appear to be. I've been told that it comes with the territory and that it only gets more so as the days go by. To add insult to injury, I have always gotten a senior's discount at a particular fast food restaurant. They were the only chain who offered it. This past Sunday, I stopped by to pick up some grub for a quick lunch after services at our local fellowship. The lady rung up my ticket. I asked if she was going to give me the old people's discount. (It took me forever to even be able to say those words.) She apologized and said they had discontinued the discount program on the meals but she could sell me a discounted drink if I wanted it. She said she had no idea why. I said no thank you to the drink. By the way, what's the age of that young man back there preparing meals? He looks maybe 12. Isn't there a child labor law about stuff like that? It doesn't get any easier folks. Not even a little bit.

Just last week I was visiting a company to discuss some particular issues regarding some work our firm was doing. The fellow there wanted us to go and visit with the project manager. He was maybe in his early 40's. We went into the office and he made an immediate left onto some stairs. They were steep. Two flights, but he bounded to the top. I felt compelled to bound with him. I'm really not good at bounding anymore. He was impressed and said I was really doing well for my age. We got to the lady's office. It was my time to talk. I was still trying to unbind the bounding I had done. I couldn't even catch my breath, much less talk without wheezing. She was the project manager. I knew she had a degree from university but I wasn't aware they could graduate and go to work at her age. She is young. And, she was very nice to the old white-bearded man who was huffing and puffing like he was going to blow the house down. I thought she might ask me to a tea party or something with her dolls. I've begun to mix the fairy tales and that's never a good sign. I finally got the discussion done, took care of business, and took my time walking down those stairs. The fellow who was into bounding walked slowly this time. He most likely had no desire to be administering CPR since it was close to his quitting time. Well, now you know. This is the life we older folks live. I saw one little ditty that named us keen-agers. P-l-e-a-s-e! Oh well, every day is a new opportunity to experience the stuff we all have to deal with. I will keep you posted. See you next time, and may God bless us all. Amen. ...More later.