Dear HLPC family,
As I write this Pastor’s Pen I’m sitting in a dentist office waiting room while Connie has some dental work done to prepare her for an implant (I hope I’m not committing a HIPAA violation in sharing that). People are coming and going as their names are called to have their own dental needs met. On the TV in the waiting room is a show entitled “Farmhouse Fixer”—a show I’ve never seen before, but I gather it’s about two guys who find old and run down farmhouses and give them a total makeover. In some ways, the show is a metaphor for what goes on here, I suppose. Not that my wife is a run-down farmhouse—but you get the idea. Teeth, like the rest of us, wear down.
That’s because one thing we can’t stop, is the passage of time. I think I’m hitting that stage in life as a fairly new empty nester where time, and its speed in passing, is more frequently on my mind. Connie and I blinked, and three boys grew up, moved out, and started lives of their own. It seems only a short time ago that she and I were newlyweds moving into campus housing at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi.
I think I better understand what the Psalmist was asking of the Lord when he prayed in Psalm 90:12 “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” Teach us to value the time we’ve been given. Teach us to use the days wisely and for your glory, Lord.
Let’s not take for granted the relationships we have, the church family we have, the blessings we have, or the time given us. Not that we have to obsess over every second of every day, but may the Lord give us wisdom and grace to be good stewards of this limited resource. May we look back with gratitude, look ahead with hope, and look at the present as an opportunity to serve Him who made us and gave His Son, the Lord Jesus, for us.
Your Pastor,