It is not easy to move through the developmental stages of life. Early on, we tend to cling to the comforts of the present. This is the reason why children sometimes have to be prodded to move ahead and grow up. During the school years and into adolescence, we often want to run ahead to areas of life for which we are not developmentally ready. Parents say it again and again, “Don’t grow up too fast!” Life is filled with transitions. One of the last, and perhaps most difficult transitions, is the transition from productive, compassionate adulthood into the mature years of life when one’s energy wanes, one’s productivity is altered, and a new set of tasks emerges. Some people never manage to find the new rhythms of life and the fresh purpose of God during the capstone years.
When we develop appropriately in each stage of life and learn the lessons life offers, we become mature, competent people who “act our age”. We do not try to go back to the past and an earlier stage of life; neither do we try to accelerate life and live in the future. We enjoy the life God provides in the present, and gladly commit ourselves to his purpose for us.
One description of the developmental life stages says that the “Mature Years” are valuable for reviewing one’s life, redefining the order and meaning of life, and preserving that wisdom and passing it on to others. The “Mature Years” give the opportunity to reflect and write both from expertise and experience.
My wife and I prefer a different terminology. We are not interested in retiring–we are interested in reinvesting. My goal is to devote my “reinvestment” years to accomplishing those things that God has uniquely equipped me to do.
Please bear with me as I review my life “out loud” in this blog and in web articles. My purpose is to understand more clearly the order and meaning of my life–a life controlled and guided by God. Hopefully, out of my experiences and training will come a few words of wisdom that are worth passing on. I eagerly look forward to the next steps. They may not be giant steps, but hopefully they won’t be baby steps either.