On April 15, 2016 I turned 50 and drank my first cup of coffee – dark roast, black! I figured that it was time that I matured and acted my age, so drinking coffee seemed like the logical next step to let people know that I am now of age:)
Over the past year as I knew I was approaching my 50th birthday I came to the realization that perhaps my best years were still ahead, that in my first 50 years I had done a lot of learning and that I’m now ready to take on some significant work. I started thinking about the next 30 years of my life and what I’d like to accomplish, that I shouldn’t be afraid to step out and try something new, to step into areas that perhaps I may have been avoiding, to never settle for mediocrity – even to try drinking coffee!
I believe that we all face these times in life. We think that we should step into something but then convince ourselves that perhaps it’s too late to try, and so we avoid. What I am talking of?
Perhaps you have thought that you’d love to connect with your neighbours, to create a deeper sense of community on your street or in your apartment, yet you’ve been there 10 years and you haven’t taken any risks, so perhaps the time has passed by, that it’s too late. Why think this way? How about this spring/summer, when everyone spends more time outside, to go over, begin a conversation, and take the next step in creating a deeper sense of community.
Perhaps among your friends you have wanted to go deeper in your journey of faith, to pray together, to serve together. Yet you’ve settled into routines and everyone knows what to expect and you don’t want to be the one to upset “the way things are”; after all, you’ve been friend for such a long time, what you have is good enough, isn’t it? Then why the nagging feeling that perhaps there could be more? Why not take the risk and go to a whole new level of engagement.
Perhaps your marriage is okay but nothing more. A little stale. You have your routines, you know what to expect, you’re both comfortable but not really all that excited about your relationship. Maybe it’s as good as it gets, after all, the emotions of “love” are for those dating and the newly married, but not while raising kids, and once they’re gone why not just keep living together without grand expectations of something exciting – don’t upset what you know you can expect. But maybe, just maybe, there is something more. But you know that it will take stepping out of the routines, taking a chance, maybe starting over, not with someone new, but with something new with the one you committed your life to years ago.
It’s never too late to start. It’s never too late to step out and take a chance. It’s never too late to set out on a new course.
That’s what spring is all about isn’t it? Newness of life. Plants come alive and blossom. Animals come out with their young. It is a new day, a new season, all about new life.
It can be the same for us, if we choose to step out of our routines. Yes it might feel uncomfortable. Yes it might involve some effort. And yet, it could be a new time for your life, something you never thought possible but only dreamed about. Why not let this spring be a new day for you, for your marriage, for your friendships, for your family, for your neighbourhood, for your workplace? Why can’t it start with you?
As followers of Christ and leaders of others on their journey of discipleship, we are called to bring life just as Christ brought life to us. It is our time, it is our season, let’s lead the way.
For the kingdom.