You know you’re getting old when the candles cost more than the cake. – Bob Hope

Have you ever looked up the day or year that you were born? Recently, Taste of Home had a new twist on that which I’d never seen, What food product came out the year that you were born. I was surprised to learn that the year I was born, so was Little Caesar’s. Mike and Marian Ilitch spent their life savings to open the first “Little Caesar’s Pizza Treat” in Garden City, Michigan with a focus on inexpensive pizza made with quality ingredients. Ten years later they had a thriving string of franchises in the U.S. and Canada and have continued to grow ever since. Here’s a fun fact: “Little Caesar” was Marian’s nickname for her husband!

Birthdays bring about reflection

They make you consider where you are now, where you were in the past and where you want to go from here.Last Thursday was my birthday. I’m the youngest of five and the only one of my siblings who was born in Tennessee. The rest were born in Atlanta. My father had taken a temporary assignment with Rich’s Department Stores in Knoxville. He was sent up from Atlanta to close their Knoxville location and while there for about a year, I made my grand entrance. 

Then, I’m the only one of my siblings who didn’t graduate from the Georgia Military Academy that later became Woodward Academy. It’s a well-known college prep school in Atlanta. My sister, Ina, had a scholarship to Woodward and my dad was on the school’s governing board. My grades and reputation weren’t exactly the stuff of scholarship.  

I made decent grades, though I was a bit of a rascal, until my mom was killed in a car accident when I was 10. My dad didn’t understand that kids don’t study or do homework if they’re not held accountable. After her death my grades took a dive. I was doing terrible in a local Christian school. My dad thought I wasn’t being challenged enough and if I went to Woodward, the pressure would motivate me. It didn’t. I still remember the poor school counselor meeting regularly with me and trying to figure out why I was doing so badly. Unfortunately, I just didn’t care. 

If you’re not smart and getting good grades, talented or athletic, there’s one group that will always accept you – the druggies and the drinkers – and they did. I was headed for a disaster. 

As I look back, I’m not sure if I would have survived past high school. I was already drinking so heavily I was having blackouts, but I was miserable. A few years earlier I’d committed my life to Christ and the Holy Spirit knows how to work on your heart. Francis Thompson’s The Hound of Heaven is an accurate picture of a child of God running away from Him. God loves us too much to let us wander without seeking us. In His grace, He will chase us down. It helped that I had a youth pastor, Kent Richards, who really cared. If it had not been for Kent, I’d have dropped out of church. My dad had stopped attending and I had to ask for a ride to go. Though I was a troublemaker, people from church kept coming to pick me up. (It’s never good when parents tell their teens to stay away from you).  

I had a friend from Woodward who attended my church who was a bigger mess than I was. She left Woodward and went to a Christian Boarding school in Watertown, Wisconsin that was part of a Bible College. It radically changed her life. I thought – that’s my answer. If she can change, so can I. I began to work and save money so I could pay my own way. When my dad learned of my plans, he put the kibosh on it. But God…

That summer my dad remarried. She wasn’t exactly the evil stepmother, but it was obvious that she’d married him for his money. She had a weird, even cruel streak. One day she decided she should tell me that my dad had told her “I was an accident.” Not exactly a self-esteem builder for a teen.

His new wife thought, “You want to go away to school. How fast can we pack your bags?” I’d never seen the school and soon I was on a plane with a couple of suitcases to Wisconsin. I’m not even sure I knew where Wisconsin was. Though the school was very strict (think Amish with electricity), God used that discipline and a focus on the Lord, to radically transform my life. 

Years later I reflected on how my life might have ended if God had not intervened. I fear I’d have been another statistic of a broken life. I know that I never would have gone into the ministry or married Jane. In what seemed like accidents and disasters, God was working the whole time. 

Birthdays also bring about a sense of renewal

There’s something about birthdays for me that prompt reflection and renewal. Children tend to develop their picture of who God is from their father. It took me a long time to mature spiritually and realize that God wasn’t angry at me. I didn’t have to tiptoe around Him. And when I blew it, which was a lot, He was always there ready to forgive and restore. 

Though I left home at fifteen, I realized that while I never wanted to be like my dad, I was more like him than I wanted to admit. Not only does addiction run in my family, so does rage. My grandfather had a volent temper and all of us quickly learned to tiptoe around my dad. No one wanted to set him off. He didn’t use the belt; he used the buckle.  

God began to work in my heart and then He brought Jane into my life. I’m not exaggerating when I say that Jane just doesn’t have bad days. Her peaceful heart was used by the Lord to influence me toward peacefulness. It’s hard to be mad and fight someone who won’t fight back. She lives out Proverbs 15:1, “A soft answer turns away wrath…” 

One of my life verses is Philippians 3:10, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death. After walking with Jesus for over five decades, I love Him more and have more passion for Him today than ever before…though I’ve got a long way to go. Hang around me a bit and you’ll know that. 

Yet, as I reflect on my life and especially these past few years, there have been valleys (there always are) but I’m more aware than ever before that my Shepherd walks with me through them. The Lord faithfully sprinkles my walk with blessings and continually renews my joy, hope and passion. 

I still have a lot of becoming more like Jesus ahead of me, yet I can relate to Caleb in Joshua 14. Age is just a number. I believe that God still has mountains for me to conquer by His grace. I have more passion for Jesus and His work than ever before…and that’s all Him, it’s all God’s grace!