Bill and I have been traveling a lot this past spring. A trip with family, a trip to Seattle for work, a trip with friends and a trip back to Princeton for reunions. As we planned for each trip, I could feel in my head and body a pull of inertia. It is so much easier to just plod through routine life at home. There is the discomfort and anxiety of flying, the challenge of packing for a variety of activities and the anticipation of less personalized conveniences in our accommodations.
This fourth trip really impresses on me the need in my heart to maintain flexibility. If I am going to stay connected with family and friends, I must be flexible enough to leave home! But also, if I am hoping to stay useful to the Lord in a range of capacities, I must embrace leaving home and strategize to overcome the obstacles and discomforts. I certainly could be useful just interacting with my neighbors, shining the light of Christ among them. I could be helpful to my new local church, practicing hospitality and speaking words of encouragement and biblical wisdom. But I know we are called to visit our scattered children and to stay connected to people from whom we have moved away.
Not only do I need to flex geographically, but I also need to keep myself from letting skills go rusty. Being largely homebound during Covid, I hardly drove outside of a small familiar radius for multiple years. So I began to be less competent as a driver as a result. I delight to go on road trips with Bill and typically he does most of the driving. We have had to change that habit here in the mountains, so that I won’t lose my ability even for local driving.
While we were back in Princeton recently, I went to the Spanish Sunday School class at Stone Hill Church and was happy to be able to converse in Spanish, after little use here in Colorado. It reinspired me to read my Bible and to listen to programs in Spanish, even if it is rare that I find anyone to talk with.
It makes sense to me that I will enjoy a much greater quality of life as I age if I keep flexible and “work out” not only physically but also mentally and spiritually. I was thinking over what biblical basis I might find to motivate myself to press on with energy, in an age when “self-care” is encouraged more than hard work. Certainly, there is a biblical basis for not expecting the same work output of an older saint – Leviticus 27:1-8 and 1 John 2:12-14 both suggest to me that young and middle-aged adults have strength and economic productivity that are not expected of older adults. But both of those passages also show that adults over 60 still produce and benefit others. 1 Timothy 2:1-6 provides me with a mindset of preparation, training and hard work, which I think applies to us all, though Paul is writing it specifically to a younger minister, Timothy:
“You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.”
Paul is urging Timothy to train and minister with focus and effort. But in writing this letter and subsequently 2 Timothy, Paul is exerting himself, “being poured out as a drink offering,” mentoring a younger leader at the same time as he recognizes that he “has finished the race.” (2 Timothy 4:6-7) This motivates me both to look for ways to be useful in personal ministry and especially to have a mindset of equipping younger believers for the ministry to which God has called them.
Circling back to where I started this post, traveling is the skill I am working on in this season. That means even small things, like getting better at packing, which is a much hated process in our house. I developed a little strategy for this most recent trip, but if you have any pointers for me, I would love hearing from you. We must not overlook the value of practical steps which help reduce the impediments to being a useful and versatile worker for the glory of God and the blessing of others!