Had an interesting conversation tonight. One of my members is a repeat from another church about twenty years ago. Our church back then was an interesting place mostly made up of retired people from across Texas. The location is down on a lake outside Tyler. Diversity among the membership was not a problem. My career was really just beginning in those days. Much of my core beliefs or approaches are the result of spending four years among those people. Anyway, tonight my friend came up and told me about one of our former members who now lives in Longview. She is in one of the retirement villages there. Perhaps the best description of this lady is to call her a Baptist "Betty White." Twenty years ago she was running circles around us then. She resides in the independent living area now. Hopefully I can get up there for an extended period of time before long. She may recognize me since I was clean shaven during my days back then. Mostly it is amazing to me to reconnect with people from my past even after all these years.

This gets me to thinking about aging. In the past this was a decent concern of mine. Going through the last few months does tend to change one's thinking on the matter. I once said that my goal was to live as long and as healthy as possible. Today my view is to just go one day at a time. Statistics are no longer in my favor for my original goal. Believe me when I say that there will be no surrender just because numbers go against me. But it does seem to be a good thing to develop a stronger trust in God's purpose for however long might be the duration.

Therapy will come to an end fairly soon. My days of going to doctors will probably remain the same for awhile. One of my new questions is about the how or what to do after they stop poisoning my system. Remember that there is no precise measurement on how long my remission may or may not last. The issue for me is not how long will it last but how will things be different from this experience. Does the length of life determine the quality of that life? Seems to me that really living weighs more than just marking off the days on a calendar. That quality of life is one born of God's presence energizing each day.

Seems to me that living this way calls for us to know our purpose in the world. Why are you here? Our life is for much more than taking up space on our planet. I still believe God desires to do incredible things in a life no matter the conditions. To just even touch one life for eternity is not a bad thing. I also think there is a need to keep yourself in harmony with God in all that you do. A bad emotional outlook can color you physically as well as spiritually. Any of those areas being out of line can limit your enjoyment of the divine gifts. We may not all live to be a hundred years old. But neither do we have to stop living long before our expiration date. God's grace allows us to live beyond our imagination. I can only hope that you will know that truth as you make your own journey to the end.

Bro. Trey