The first book on my reading list for the summer has been, The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson. It is a phenomenal book on prayer. It has already increased my faith just by reading it.
In the book Batterson suggests that as we age we "stop living out of imagination and start living out of memory." He says, "We stop creating the future but start repeating the past." As I have watched people age I have witnessed many people telling the same stories over and over again, both the accomplishments of the past as well as the failures. Rarely, however, do I see the elderly continuing to dream and imagine what the future could be and what their part in it could be. This is the key to aging! We have to continue to dream and imagine!
For some time I have been thinking about what retirement will look like for me. I know that I can't crawl under tables doing bear hunts with five-year-olds forever! I told myself that I would never retire until I have another plan in place. Well, the other day at a party and in the middle of the night, God told me. He gave me the next book I am going to write and where I will volunteer. I now have a dream, even though it is several years away.
Life may throw challenging situations our way, such as disease or physical limitations, but we can continue to imagine and dream. God will always have an assignment for us. We just may have to do it differently than we would have before.
I know in my later years I don't want to be the person that repeats the same stories from the past over and over again. I would rather be the dreamer living out what God wants me to do next.
"You're never too old to go after the dreams God has put in your heart." Mark Batterson
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