I have had the privilege recently to travel back to Princeton Reunions! It’s always a great reminder of the “inheritance” I have in “the saints.” Alumni from the Princeton Christian Fellowship have been extended family to us and to our children for decades.
In the week before I left and throughout the visit, the Lord has been showing me the many ways younger believers have contributed to my growth in grace. I will share some of those ways.
Leading up to our travels, I had a phone conversation with one alum, to whom I relayed some wisdom from one of my daughters. Sarah, my daughter, had shared how blessed she was to recognize that often the Lord chooses our friends for us. We may have our sights set on those we think we will click with, only to click with other people who then become our long-term friends. Receiving them with gratitude leads to plentiful blessing and the opportunity for “iron to sharpen iron!” (Proverbs 27:17)
A second example is my three editors – Ruth, Jocelyn and Lynda, all younger than me. When Ruth and I started this blog in 2017, I bristled initially at being edited! But over the years, I felt all three of these dear friends gave me training to become a better writer and thinker, and I am very grateful. They helped me to write more clearly, to minimize distracting or incendiary tangents and to give practical examples. As I read things on the internet, I occasionally think the material could have been so much better with a second pair of eyes!
A third example – I had a phone conversation with another alum about a week before I came. She herself had struggled with deep doubts as a student, and I often felt inadequate to help. But God was faithful, and she persevered. She is now a woman of fierce faith that God knows what he is doing, unusual humility about her own faults and vision to see unplanned opportunities to serve as gifts from our sovereign Father. She is over 30 years younger than me, but in that conversation, I really felt she was the one mentoring me, rather than the other way around. I got a “shot in the arm” during our conversation, which invigorated my walk of faith in our gracious Father.
Finally, at Reunions, I was talking with two who were there. The topic was how much we really change, since they were processing their experience of catching up with fellow Princetonians whom they knew decades ago as students. They saw the continuity with who they were as students and who they are now, including themselves. One of them rued the extent to which he was still the grumpy old man he had been as an undergrad! I testified to the grace of God to change me. Not only did my own teenagers knock off many of my rough edges, but also hundreds of extended family teenagers (AKA our students) provided that service. May I encourage you parents of teenagers, (even the teenagers who seem unreasonable) to listen when they say, “Mom, I HATE it when you do ….” Because of them, I got rid of my sanctimonious “I told you so!” smile! This is not to negate your authority over them. I plan to write about that in the future. But much can be learned from the complaints of our youth.
If God could direct Balaam through the speech of a donkey, certainly God can direct us through younger persons! Blessed are all those who keep their hearts soft to receive instruction and reproof! In my experience, we never truly “arrive” at a place where we no longer need it. “The ear that listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise.” (Proverbs 15:31)