by Jay Adams
Eighty years old! I truly never thought I’d live this long. It makes me wonder what the Lord has in mind for me to do during the last few years that I have left. Surely, without some worthwhile project or projects, I’d dry up and blow away. Whether writing these blogs is or is not a worthwhile activity I shall find out in time. For the moment, in addition to teaching at my church, this is my major activity.
At eighty, you begin to have physical limitations. I don’t walk well; only passably well. I can still drive, but I’d just as well not—unless it’s to the little town five miles away where we do most of our regular shopping. Eyesight’s fine—my lens implants have stood me well for twenty years. I still see better with them than when I was a child! Hearing is a problem, but not if you speak up a little more! What was that you just said?
One thing that I’ve noticed—and am exceedingly grateful for—is that I still have all of my mental facilities intact. Though, perhaps, some would say they never were intact. That there has been little change I can vouch for—at least from my perspective. That fact, and because I don’t get around as well as before, is one reason why I’m spending time blogging. I can sit and do that. And, now and then, there may be someone who receives help from a particular posting.
At eighty, I ought to have some sage advice to give the young. Let’s see, if I were to pick one thing only, that might be of importance, what would it be? Hmmmm . . .
I know one! Prepare for old age. True, you may never make it; there are former students of mine who have died already. If you don’t have some activity that you can engage in for the Lord, you will probably end up a sour and regretful old person. There’s always something one can do so long as he has control of his basic faculties. If he is bedridden, he can pray. My son, Todd, is in a wheelchair with MS, but he studies Greek and Hebrew and writes. He’s a man who, when he’s old, will have not only a legacy, but also something worthwhile to do in the Lord’s service.
Older people, I’m told, tend to look back. I never have been one to do so. Perhaps that’s yet to come. I told you in another posting about my sieve-like mind. Perhaps that’s the way it is because I have always had a forward look. What is next to do? To learn? To experience? That orientation, I think, has kept me as current as I can be—given my physical limitations. Inwardly, I don’t think of myself as old. I just think, “Here’s another day—what shall I make of it? How shall I use it to honor God, and how can I be a blessing to someone else?” So long as I can continue that orientation, I think I’ll be able to carry on reasonably well for another few years. If God wills. We’re all immortal until God is through with us—as I said in the previous blog.
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This article was originally published at www.nouthetic.org/blog. Dr. Jay Adams pastored churches in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, served as a denominational official, a professor at Westminster Theological Seminary, the director of the Doctoral program at Westminster Theological Seminary in California, and then as a church planting pastor in South Carolina. He was also the the founder of the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation in Philadelphia, the National Association of Nouthetic Counselors, and Timeless Texts which now publishes his books.
“The spirit of Christmas giving came early this year to QPRC’s “Knit Pickers” group,” said Terry Fischer, Independent Living Activities Coordinator. “I told them about the need for blankets and tiny hats in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Lancaster General’s Women’s and Babies Hospital. Our knitters responded immediately and got to work.”