The Shape of Next
Nov 25, 2025
This Friday I will turn 65 years old. There were many years when that number sounded impossibly old, unimaginable to my younger ears. Now it just sounds like the next natural thing on this journey we call life. Because it is.
When you are a child, you look forward to being older, because older means more—more fun, more excitement, more privileges that allow you to do cool grownup things like drive a car and go to bed at whatever time you choose. Then suddenly you are grown up, and you take for granted those privileges because you are preoccupied with the adult responsibilities that accompany them—work schedules, house projects, managing finances, taking care of children or parents or both.
Then…somewhere along this journey, you begin to realize you are no longer in a hurry to get to the next big milestone in life. Because the remaining milestones are not so fun, so exciting; they do not convey eagerly anticipated privileges. In fact, some of the remaining milestones are the dark opposite—the loss of health, or loss of functions like hearing or eyesight, even loss of independence and ultimately life itself.
Our journey these past few months—the last three spent in Germany-- has brought physical, emotional and spiritual change; some we expected but much we did not. God has pulled open the curtains and given us a glimpse of how He can use us to truly “make a difference” in the lives of other people as He weaves an incredible tapestry of hearts. We get glimpses of young leaders feeling encouraged, of older ones learning new skills, of painful marriages finding hope. To see this and to know God in some way used us to bring it is itself immensely satisfying and encouraging. It gives us a desire to come back again next year, maybe even longer than 3 months, and maybe for more years beyond that. He has made it abundantly clear that all we have to bring to the table is our willingness; he is not limited by our inadequacy and may in fact use it to His advantage.
Alongside the joy and challenge of pouring into others, another stream has been at work in our hearts, not unlike how the mountain streams around here quietly but persistently carve their influence on soil and stone. We have been living in a small studio apartment, with donated furnishings, out of a pair of suitcases each, and we have absolutely everything we need. Yes a little counterspace to work on would be nice, and a few different clothes to rotate in my wardrobe. But this would not change our life, or anyone else’s. We are learning to be content with less.
Back home, where we will be in less than three weeks now, we have a huge house and a huge yard and vehicles and toys and closets full of stuff. All of that is shifting under our feet from being treasure to being a liability—things to worry about, take care of, manage or have others manage for us as we contemplate spending more time in Germany in the future. Perhaps God is preparing us to downsize now, rather than later, so we can travel more lightly while we still have the energy to travel. Making a difference for the kingdom of God feels more joyful than holding onto all our stuff. I can’t believe I’m saying that, because while it has always sounded true, it has never before been authentically true. But now, approaching the milestone age of 65, we are trying this on and it seems to fit. We have done many things in our lives, not all of them important. Age bestows wisdom and perspective. This could be the shape of next.
I will again quote C.S. Lewis: “The price of Christ is something, in a way, much easier than moral effort – it is to want Him. It is true that the wanting itself would be beyond our power but for one fact. The world is so built that, to help us desert our own satisfactions, they desert us. War and trouble and finally old age take from us one by one all those things that the natural Self hoped for at its setting out.”
We will need your prayers to navigate the next. We could fly home and go back to our “old life” and nobody would fault us. But we have glimpsed something more, something different, something worth sacrificing for. And this is a vision we can do together. This morning Cal reminded me, “I dreamed of growing old with you—and now here we are.” I wouldn’t want it any other way.