Turning Sixty

On February 18 I did someone that I have never done before, I turned sixty years old. In itself turning sixty is not a big achievement. It simply means I have lived a long time. When I say a long time even that is a relative term. Sixty will seem old to some of you and to some you will think this guy is just a youngster. I say, "God bless" all of you who still think of my as young at sixty.

When I turned sixty I began to think not of all that I had not accomplished with my life but with all the people God had brought into my life. God has graciously brought some amazing people into my life. And they have greatly blessed and enriched and changed me. I want to mention several because God had used them so much in my life.

The first people God used were my parents. I had the weirdest parents in the world. I know all kids think that their parents are weird. I'm sixty remember and looking back I now see that my parents Were Weird. They were also some of the hardest working and honest people I have ever know. They were not perfect, but that instilled in me a morality that still is intact today.

When I was a teenager God brought a lady into my life named Mary Founier. She was the first person I had ever met who really liked being a Christian and who lived it out all the time. Then a few years later God brought three college students into my life who not only loved Jesus but enjoyed loving Jesus and were excited about serving Him. These four people had a huge impact on the way I saw Jesus. And God used them to direct me to spend my life serving Him; preaching, teaching, and ministering.

The next group of people have had the biggest impact in my life, they are my wife and children and grandchildren. My wife is the most awesome person God ever created. She is not a perfect person, she did marry me, but she is the perfect wife. God has used her to love me, help me, confront me, teach me, and travel with me for almost 40 years. And though not every minute has been the best, I would honestly not trade any of our time together. She is my companion, my lover, and my best friend. Then there is my son. He is not perfect, but a dad could not possibly have ask for a better son. God has used him to show me so much truth over the years and now that he is thirty, now that makes me feel old, God uses him as a fellow disciple of Jesus to teach me ever more truth. I have a great daughter-in-law who loves and supports my son and to watch how she and my son relate brings great joy and delight to my spirit. Then there is my granddaughter, Goober. She is a constant source of joy and challenge. She has such a spirit of joy, wonder, and energy. I want to have that same joy in Jesus, wonder of Jesus and energy from Jesus that she has.

The finally group of people that God has used in my life are the pastors that I have worked with over the years. I worked with four pastors over a twenty year peroid. Three of these men were great friends and mentors. One was a jerk, but God even used him in my life to show me the kind of pastor not to be. I was taught by God through this men how to teach, preach, minister, and shepherd God's people.

The person who has most impact my life is not just a human being, He is the God/Man - Jesus. He is my life. I can not imagine living life without Jesus. Life is hard and at time it sucks. If I didn't have an personal love relationship with Jesus, not only would I not have lived to be sixty, I wouldn't have wanted to. It is not just that I can't imagine life without Jesus, I would have no life without Him. He Is My Life!

I don't know exactly how much longer I have on earth. I know that God has shown me that if He doesn't return or I don't die then He wants me to continue to pastor for ten more years. For those years and how ever many more God gives me I will allow God to Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls.

Joe