Finishing Strong

Recently I have been thinking about the “end of life.” That is because we have spent time with people who are very elderly and are having health problems. They are in nursing homes or the hospital, with professionals who are trying to help them have some quality life for their last days or months.

Often when we are young we don't take much time to stop and think about the last days of our lives. Yet, looking forward and setting goals is important at all ages of our lives, and we never know when the "end of life" will come.

Charlie and I have spent much time together making those plans. For example, when we had babies, we talked about what kind of life we wanted for them. One of our desires was for our daughters to go to college. So, as they grew up, we never said "if" you go to college; We always said, "when" you go. As my husband approached the last few years in the military, we spent time talking about what we wanted "retirement" to be like. We prayed, talked and planned about what was ahead and what we had to do to get there. And now as we are "senior citizens" we spend time talking about what we want for our last years and what we need to do to prepare ourselves for the future.

We do know that God directs our steps (Proverbs 20:24), and we always seek to yield to His plans. But He has said that He can do exceeding abundantly more than anything we can ask or think of (Ephesians 3:20). So, we make our plans, hold them lightly, and trust that His plans will be even better than what we can imagine.

I am one of those people who learns from others…both how to do things and how not to do things. As I have watched others growing older, I have made lists of things I do not want to do or be:

- Repeat myself and my stories over and over.
- Ignore people because I am losing my hearing and it is too difficult to either ask them to repeat themselves or to watch their mouths and read their lips.
- Not be interested in others.
- Have little to talk about other than bodily functions.
- Have little interest except for what I eat.
- Not be interested in what is going on in the world.
- Be so self focused that I don’t show interest in and love for others – which can be a battle in life on matter what age we are.
- Use self-pity to manipulate others...or use anything to manipulate or control others.
- Have nothing to do but watch television.
- Leave my home and important information of my life in such disarray that when I die, my children have to clean out all the “stuff” I have accumulated.

My husband and I have even talked about ways we can help each other not to do those things that are on our lists. We are often heard saying things such as, "honey, I think we told them that story before." :-)

I have also made lists of things I do want to do or be when I am living my last days:

- Finish life strong, at least strong in spirit, even if not strong in body.
- Leave a legacy to my children and grandchildren of loving God, and loving family.
- Be involved in my children’s and grandchildren’s lives as much as possible every day I am alive.
- Be a prayer warrior until my last breath.
- Spend more time looking forward than backwards and not wishing life away because the world has changed.
- Have discernment and know what is going on in the world, as well as know the “signs of the times.”
- Continue to grow in wisdom.
- Life each day to the fullest - as much as I am able, using the resources that I have.
- Be a blessing to others no matter what my circumstances.

I began the list by saying I want to finish strong in life. It is easy to start strong…in projects and goals, in marriage, in commitment, in resolutions, in determinations. We all know, however, how difficult it is to continue in those things and especially to finish. How many of us have set New Year’s resolutions and not seen them last through January. But, there is great satisfaction in ending the year and finishing the goal set 12 months ago. It takes planning, patience and perseverance to finish strong.

This morning the Lord told me that TODAY is the first day – the beginning – of the rest of my life. Today I can be different. Today I can make choices that will impact how I run the rest of the race and finish life. Today I can decide to exercise, eat healthy, make better choices, love others, spend time with the Lord, grow in wisdom and knowledge, reach out to someone else in need, focus my attention on things that have value.

This day, NOW, is all I have. Yesterday is behind. Tomorrow is not yet here. I am not even assured of tomorrow. But what I do today will affect tomorrow. Each present moment is a gift from God. What will I do with it? That will be my gift back to Him.

An aspect of God’s character is that He saves the best for last (John 2:10). Our last days should be the most satisfying. But, a satisfying tomorrow will depend on the choices we make today. I am asking myself, "How will you cross the finish line? Are there choices you need to make today to change the direction of your life? Are you willing to pay the price now to make those changes? Or will you just sit and watch life go by the same as it was yesterday and the day before? Will you get to the end of life and have regrets or wish you had done things differently?"

My prayer is that each of us will do today what it takes to finish life strong. So, I will stop writing and go do those things that I need to do today…