Prime Time!

We made it out to Sequoyah State Park in Oklahoma, about 45 minutes away, late yesterday afternoon and it was gorgeous!  JoAnna, Jeremiah and Sarah fished while I just enjoyed myself taking pictures as I walked along the lakeside and into the camping areas.  It was all so familiar and pleasant.  The smell of campfire smoke drifting amongst the trees, the sounds of water gently lapping against the rocky shoreline and the sight of a few campers enjoying themselves near their RV’s or trailers. 

Things have changed a little since I last went camping in 2005.  I saw one couple about my age sitting in lawn chairs watching a large screen TV attached to a compartment on the outside of their camping trailer!  Who would have thought… definitely not my idea of the camping adventure! But to each his or her own, I would imagine!

I simply enjoyed the “feel” of being outside, totally surrounded by trees, a view of the big lake and the nuances of nature.  Jeremiah asked if I wanted to grab a rod and fish and I replied that I was happy as can be with my camera, snapping pictures and absorbing everything around me.  It brought back many poignant memories and at one point, I had to pull up a favorite picture of Piper on my phone, where she was standing in front of our tent and tell her (the picture that is…) that it’s very difficult for me to imagine myself camping without her perky personality brightening up the whole campsite!

Ah… but life goes on!  I was feeling especially empty on Sunday morning when I first got up but got myself encouraged when I listened to a few minutes of an old cassette of Piper preaching back in 1999.  Just hearing her voice helped to ground me and prepare me for the day ahead.

All in all, I feel like I am making good strides in this crazy new world of mine!  I am really enjoying the fellowship of the men’s group I joined at church.  There are many other opportunities for service at the church, but I felt it best to hold back until I am settled into my new home in a month or so.  The house SHOULD finally close this week and I am quite excited about settling into my new neighborhood, as well as finding some permanent settlement in my life.  Apartment living is fine… I guess!  But for me, it is very transitory and a home of our own for Fiver and I sounds sooooo sweet and comforting.

I was thinking about Piper’s tape again this morning and about that time in her life.  I truly believe that she was in her prime in the later years of the 1990’s into the beginning of the 2000’s.  I found myself repeating the rhyme as I cooked up some breakfast, that “She was in her prime in 1999!”  Psalms 144:12 in The Message tells us of the Psalmist’s prayer saying: “Make our sons in their prime like sturdy oak trees, Our daughters as shapely and bright as fields of wildflowers.”  Please don’t be offended by this… but I most definitely felt that my wife was “shapely and as bright as fields of wildflowers” for the vast majority of her life, and especially in her prime years!

That got me thinking today… “What about me?”  I sure don’t look much like I did back in 1999!  My hair has gotten thinner and most of the black has made its final exit!  But then it hit me.  I’m gonna believe that I am still in my prime in this new season of my life today! I may not look the same, but as Piper would pray in different situations with different people where we were making presentations, “Lord help them to only see and hear what they are supposed to hear and see!”  In my case… If people see only what the Lord wants them to see… then my physical looks may not really be that important!  If they are only seeing what the good Lord wants them to see… then, as far as I am concerned, I’m still in my prime for the next twenty or thirty years of my life… right?

I mean hey… Psalm 148:12 talks about: “Robust men and women in their prime, and yes, graybeards and little children.” (The Message)  I fit that description with my graybeard!  So… let’s do this new thing!  Let’s live this new season of life to the fullness of God’s robust intentions! 

What do you think about that for yourself?  Why not wake up every morning, boldly declaring that your gonna live that day with gusto, excitement and the great expectations of enjoying the robust intentions that the good Lord has planned for you to live?  I believe that yours and my PRIME has met its TIME today, tomorrow and beyond!  So, jump in and enjoy yourself!

Have a great new week, and as you do, declare with me… “I am expecting to live today like I am in my prime and enjoy being all that God has planned for me to be and do!”