Which of the following are similar to the ways you've served Christ in your family? [check all that apply]
• Taught your kids to see God's glory in nature
• Washed the dishes without being asked
• Played a board game with your kids
• Encouraged your wife to finish her master's degree
• Attended a child's open house at school
• Worked fewer hours to be with your family
• Set an example of a godly prayer life for your children
• Held a crying child
• Swung on the tire swing with your daughter
• Told your wife why you're still in love with her
• Told your son he's got what it takes
• Coached soccer
• Let you child correct you now and then
• Fixed the vacuum cleaner
• Taught your sons to ride a bike
• Listened patiently to a complaint of your wife
• Taped your child's artwork to your office wall
• Admitted to your kids that you were wrong
• Told your children how Christ entered your life
• Cleaned up vomit
• Taught your children to love books
• Been romantic without expecting sex
• Told your daughter she's smart/beautiful
• Set standards for your kids and stuck to them
• Dealt graciously with a busybody neighbor
• Peeled carrots
• Watched movies together
My Pick and Shovel Theme for this Week: Growing Old Is an Oxymoron Wednesday, February 20, 2002
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January/February 200251My Pick and ShovelTheme for this Week: Growing Old Is an Oxymoron My Pick and Shovel Theme for this Week: Growing Old Is an Oxymoron Wednesday, February 20
Key Bible Verse: The glory of the young is their strength; the gray hair of experience is the splendor of the old (Proverbs 20:29). Bonus Reading:John 1:19–23
After a career in pastoral ministry and more than 21 years as editor of Decision magazine, I knew there was one more task I needed to do: clear the way for others to make new roads. There are people coming along who need teaching; I can do that. There's encouragement to be given, help in showing the way; I can do that, too. God's given me a pick and shovel and said, "Clear the way; road builders are coming along behind."
An e-mail from an editor in Finland tells me, "We are already implementing the changes you suggested when you taught us here." A Ph.D. candidate tells me that he's now getting published, after being in a writing class I taught at his seminary.
I'm not alone. Christians with years of experience and the wisdom that goes with it, who no longer have a need to prove themselves—if they ever did—are investing in others coming along behind them.
The best part about preparing the way is that I can keep on doing it for the rest of my life. I don't have to live to see the results. Some roads may not be built until long after I'm gone. My job is to be faithful to God's leading now. Each of us can do that.
—Roger C. Palms
My Response: One way I could invest the rest of my life as a "way clearer" is …
Thought to Apply: Age, health, and stage in life have nothing to do with serving or not. In each season of life are … qualities … that God values. —Bruce Kemper
If you decide you want to keep Men of Integrity coming, honor your invoice for just $19.95 and receive five more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The trial issue is yours to keep, regardless.
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