62... and counting

I received over 100 reminders from well-wishers via Facebook about my 62nd birthday, in addition to a passel of cards from family and friends over a two week period. Another card trickled in yesterday. No one let me forget I am 62.

62 seems like a big number...only 8 short of the "threescore and ten" allotted to us from a scriptural vantage point.

62 means I am standing on the brink of qualifying to receive my social security benefits, should I opt for them early. I can also join AARP and receive discounts for everything from oragel to Grecian formula.

62 means it is 44 years since I graduated from high school and this year 40 years since I graduated from college... My glasses are bifocals and I have a special pair I wear when I am working on my computer. Thankfully, I still have all my teeth intact.

62, my wife tells me, is just a number...but it is a large number (that is my gut response). So...what's next for me as I round the final quarter (am I being too optimistic?) of my life? I can remember running the mile--four times around the track--and the last quarter was the lap I saved my energy for--that final burst as I crossed the finish line.

I have been leading a discussion group of about ten successful men from age 57-72. We have been using Bob Buford's book, HALF TIME, in which he suggests the final half of our life is often spent transitioning from the pursuit of success to seeking for significance. A companion book we are reading is Richard Stearns', THE HOLE IN OUR GOSPEL, in which he shares his life-changing experience in Uganda and his subsequent move from a well-paid position of a major corporation executive to President of World Vision. Both of these books remind those of us who are in this season of life to seriously ask the question, "How do I want to spend the rest of my days?"

At age 62 it is a question I have been asking for several years now as I consider retirement and repositioning myself for the final lap. God may keep me where I have been for the last fourteen years, or, He may have another adventure in mind. What I know is this--I want to spend my days investing in things of eternal value.

Psalm 62 closes with these meaningful words, "Surely you will reward each person according to what he has done." The reward I desire most is to hear Jesus say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant...come and share your master's happiness" Matthew 25:21 (NIV)

62 means it's time for a sustained burst around the final turn. May God help me to be faithful.