View from the waiting room - VI

(The waiting will soon be done. Surgery is nexts Tuesday, Nov. 3rd. The original intention of this blog was to provide information for those who wanted to follow up the surgery. With the delay, it became something else - a platform for me to reflect. Thanks to those of you who have been following and encouraging these musings.)

I guess most of us don't fully recognize the passing of time in our lives. When you are forced to state your age, it's usually followed by "... but I don't feel 66 (or whatever age). In my mind I still feel like 35." It's true for me and I know for many others. It's not denial, it's fact. "In my mind..." that's really how I feel. But when I'm forced to look at the evidence (my driver's licence, my sometimes creaking joints, my slower memory... etc.) I know it's true. The years have passed.

Perhaps the most jarring reminder of aging is when you encounter other "young" people who aren't so young anymore. You can't kid yourself. I'm in the midst of one of the times today. I'm at a conference in Manitoba talking to pastors and church leaders about what God is doing in Africa and elsewhere around the world. Many of the pastors I'm talking to are ones whom I taught in Saskatoon back in the '70s and '80s. Most of them have grey hair (or no hair) and thicker bodies. Some of them are talking about the recent weddings of their kids. Yikes! These guys (men and women) were "kids" back in the day.

The most gratifying part being in the 'seniors' section of the waiting room is to see and hear what has happened in many of these lives since Saskatoon days. One is the district superintendent. One is the pastor of one of our largest churches. Another 30 to 40 are serving God faithfully in other places where He is using them to build the lives of people into the likeness of Christ. There's no experience quite like having them come and say "I want to thank you, Dr. Birch, (they can't shake the authority title of college days) for your part in my shaping my life in Bible College." I can't say that back in the day I felt like I was shaping a man or woman of God. I was running hard as a young man just into my 30s trying to keep up with the responsibilities of running the College. But obviously God was in the experience both for me and for them. I'm incredibly grateful.

I've just re-read what I've written. I'm reminiscing like the old man I've become. Shirley would protest at me calling myself old. My mind protests. "I don't feel old." Shirley will tell you "he's not old. Denial is not just a river in Egypt. Cheers. Yours forever young,
KEN