2008 hasn't started very healthy for me. Over the holidays, I had a bad head & chest cold for several days. I ate too much and have been trying to diet some and get back in shape, not very successfully. And now, over the past 2 weeks, I've developed some kind of intestinal infection, leaving me feeling lousy most days. On top of all that, for months I've been struggling with a pinched nerve between my shoulder blades, giving me a fair amount of neck & shoulder pain daily. Not a great start to a new year!
It definitely seems like the older I become, the easier it is to get sick or get injuries, yet its harder to get and stay in shape and harder to eat healthy enough to feel good. Entering middle age is a pain- literally & figuratively!
I've been reading a book about the life and writings of the late Rich Mullins, whom I've written about before here. My all-time favorite musician, no doubt. In the final chapter of the book, the author shares many of Rich's thoughts on aging, death, and the life to come for followers of Christ. I was encouraged by a few lines from one of his old songs-

Live like you'll die tomorrow
Die knowing you'll live forever
Love like you'll leave tomorrow
Believing love lasts forever.

He also spoke these words-
"Remember that after we die...Christ is going to raise us up again, and somehow we'll be a body still. But we'll be different than we are now. A new body's what we get- and I've got a great one on order!"
"A little while after you're dead, you'll be rotted away anyway...Its not gonna matter if you had a few scars. It will matter if you didn't live."
I'm reminded of what Saint Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:53- "This perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality."

So as tough as it is to get older, I have the confidence that when this body wears out, a new, improved model awaits me, with an eternal warranty. And that is when life will really begin...
Rob

Haven't had a chance to write in a while, but I was reflecting on our New Years Eve fun, so I thought I'd put down some thoughts.
Every year, we get together with two old high school/church friends of mine, Lyle & Jimmy, and their wives & kids. We spend two days together, at one of our houses. We also do this in the summer when possible, but the New Years time is always a priority. Our kids are all about the same age,and they all have known each other basically from birth. Six adults, seven kids(10 when Lyle brings his niece & nephews), and two days of eating, talking, playing, and no sleep. Its one of the highlights of the holidays for me & my family.
This year, we were at Jimmy & Carla's house in Milton. They have a horse farm, and a huge beautiful house they built themselves over the past several years. Our kids all played Wii and other games the whole time, and us "old adults" talked about the past year, what 2008 might look like, and other old friends we have lost contact with. Its always interesting, and a bit sad, to think about those we no longer have any connection with, that we thought were so important to us in our younger years. And yet, the friendships that have lasted, i.e. ours, have been the ones that mattered most, and the ones we worked the hardest at. We've always been there for each other, always accepted and cared for each other, and our families have always loved each other as well. Old friendships still together, being passed on to the next generation. I think that's the best legacy friendship can leave.
I'll see my friends and their families this summer, if not sooner...
Rob