I turned 62 last week. Someone asked, “What did you do for your birthday?” My wife and I slipped away to a beautiful, quiet place of peace for a couple of days and enjoyed a small part of the beauty of God’s creation. We sat under clear star-lit skies at night, saw the sun rise with its prism of colors that warmed our spirits and caused nature to awaken all around us, admired the freedom in the birds that coasted effortlessly in the blue skies before softly landing on the still waters below. It was wonderful! My younger brother called as I was driving to that quiet place and asked if I had completed the required paperwork to begin drawing my Social Security. That question caused the reality of aging to hit me right in the face. My granddaughter sang “Happy Birthday to Granddaddy” in her precious four-year-old voice, and told me to close my eyes, make a wish and it may come true. As I reflect on these three aspects of becoming one day older than the day before, I did not file the paperwork to apply for Social Security, nor did I make a wish in hopes of it coming true, but the solitude and peacefulness of those couple of days away led me to pray for God to cause me to be more intentional about helping to create “evidence of the grace of God” (Acts 11:22). I know I cannot do it on my own, but with God’s power and your help, I hope to:

• Be a better husband, father, grandfather, brother, and friend

• Lift up and live out the Spirit of Christ in what I say and do

• Seek the best for my brothers and sisters by not saying or doing anything harmful or hurtful to them or about them

• Be an agent of peace, reconciliation, harmony, and hopefulness among other people as we blend our varied differences into a unified commitment to follow Jesus together

• Support every decision of the church that I love believing we are guided, empowered, and sustained by the Holy Spirit

• Give the best of who I am, and what I have, to the One that created me, breathed life into me, gave his life for me, and promises me abundant and eternal life

I may not always get it right, but because I am “surrounded by such a cloud of witnesses,” and if we all strive to do the same, I am hopeful that we can all have a more joy-filled life and it will be easy to reflect, “evidence of the grace of God.”

By: Dr. Jim Everette, Associate Pastor Connection & Care