July 22, 2021 – Click here to listen
So today I’m in Valdosta Georgia and will soon leave go to visit my old home Honey Lake and many friends in the area from Honey Lake all the way to Tallahassee. My wife and I left the Keys early in the morning yesterday, stopped in Miami to see a neurologist who told me I will need surgery on my spine again with a three-month recovery. Ughhh . . . We spent 12 hours on the road and were spent by the time we finally ate dinner and got settled in our room and went to sleep.
Tomorrow we will drive to Atlanta where we will spend a week seeing our kids and then fly to Oregon to see our oldest son and his brood and do a little salmon fishing. Then to California for some bluefin tuna fishing, on to Alaska for two months catching Halibut, salmon and sight-seeing and then back to Atlanta and maybe North Carolina for some trout fishing in the mountains depending upon when I can set up my surgery.
So, I stopped in and had lunch with a buddy in Jupiter Florida on the way up and he couldn’t get over my schedule, especially knowing my lower back has tanked on me. I just smiled and said I may be getting old but I ain’t cold – Thank God. Personally, I think getting old is overhyped and prevents many people from doing the things they love.
I met an old black man near my hunting plantation who didn’t even know how old he was because they didn’t issue birth certificates to black people way back in the day. Locals think he is near 100 if not older. He lives alone in a remote section of property adjacent to Honey Lake. He chops wood, draws water from a well, works his garden, slops his hog, and cooks his own meals, and best of all he has a great attitude. I used to love talking to him when I lived there. One thing sure he was not obsessed with getting old, heck he doesn’t even have a clue how old he is . . . LOL
I have a friend whom I took fishing the other day. He was exhausted by the trip and moaning about hurting in places he didn’t even know existed. He was limping around like he had artificial legs or something. I wasn’t even tired after that fishing trip and had even remarked to one of the other guys who went with us that it was a nice easy day of fishing. As I surveyed him, he appeared grossly overweight with a big pot belly and well . . . he really looked old. I asked him his age and he was the exact same age as my oldest son. Whoa . . .
I know I’m used to fishing and that was part of my faring better, but I think it was mindset. Before we even left, he said repeatedly that he dreaded getting beat up by the waves. As it turned out it was a relatively calm day offshore that day, but he was defeated by his mind before he ever left shore.
I used to play every sport and have been in many games that it appeared as though we were dead certain to lose. I remember one baseball game where I was wishing with all my might that I could get up to bat with the bases loaded and two outs and the game on the line. If we were going to lose that game, I wanted to go down swinging. I say rise to the challenge and go for it when you get an opportunity.
I have friends my age that I detest being around because all they talk about is their aches and pains and how old they are. I believe God wants us to get every second of every minute of every hour and day out of this life. I disliked Franklin Roosevelt for some of his political positions, but he had a saying that I love: “When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on.” I’ll hang in there as long as I can and rest when I get to heaven. Remember our lives are meant to be spent not saved! You may be getting old but you ain’t cold baby! Praise God . . .
Matthew 6:33
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.