%PDF-1.7 1 0 obj << /Type /Catalog /Outlines 2 0 R /Pages 3 0 R >> endobj 2 0 obj << /Type /Outlines /Count 0 >> endobj 3 0 obj << /Type /Pages /Kids [6 0 R 19 0 R ] /Count 2 /Resources << /ProcSet 4 0 R /Font << /F1 8 0 R /F2 9 0 R /F3 10 0 R /F4 11 0 R /F5 12 0 R /F6 14 0 R >> /XObject << /I1 15 0 R /I2 16 0 R /I3 23 0 R /I4 24 0 R >> /ExtGState << /GS1 17 0 R /GS2 18 0 R /GS3 21 0 R /GS4 22 0 R >> >> /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] >> endobj 4 0 obj [/PDF /Text /ImageC ] endobj 5 0 obj << /Producer (dompdf 1.0.2 + CPDF) /CreationDate (D:20241216183320+00'00') /ModDate (D:20241216183320+00'00') >> endobj 6 0 obj << /Type /Page /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] /Parent 3 0 R /Contents 7 0 R >> endobj 7 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 1461 >> stream xWMo7WLo `-7'mh) j]*$eU WeA{* k7C$I]O]S^A5uC?DB+ߞtzӃr kzX隧KzvBHx'O Qbg'~魪LiO b<%'>_<TTՔDㅳjr59T/P <ϩs1w |{&Up# ~%:XA$Zrh0Vf74d,Vn f?Ko("%#~Iivفrfg3Q{{e̎6JO!.6]zWfPͧ-9+Z)iI"yIbV1d*f*F2'JOU7"njA#<YVDA 5F5ijs*Z΃~. cD9byhA,PnkA?!Y]G~g~yD;3 cAdn2&OEVTn}k:E^[+hQCE4&⨼U5z0o v] ̫ϬڵUl}v Оסo~)MY4kԟ./j$f@:w.\RU1;c6/lXEHyxݪj1-dw*.mxhk:]kBnU:YĠ/2ds,H3q@u}V]LU Wù|^T 0㪑=HaLHYc1`Ti)dhW-hP.g h# Vtc1 җ遮6KlZB`8+;'1-b"9/7gpT;1V;H1aP݀7O.AYA=FyCU"C@ԭUnsE!Yqs+B@9@侶@<<P% Y[W>nf7?N";LEw,,&Gk-]aCpwў$be!fyL:.JrI,0o"ÁU6.v\)%Bg1(!8ZyC<ﭼϽ'֒+^K6 _yL#m[YubNVm Ae㔺I9Zb)btuy+ôےqc>pbn]HycxlN.qeճ:8PTuiwޢآʦ؍>v?ޡt)lN;o+N%j EvtR,9" ̧2O cR[E-- /3+L""2J'OqƚUfr*kg ~.cUxO8&pO/~c endstream endobj 8 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F1 /BaseFont /Helvetica /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 9 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F2 /BaseFont /Times-Bold /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 10 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F3 /BaseFont /Times-Roman /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 11 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F4 /BaseFont /Helvetica-Bold /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 12 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F5 /BaseFont /Helvetica-Oblique /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 13 0 obj [6 0 R /Fit] endobj 14 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F6 /BaseFont /Times-Roman /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 15 0 obj << /Type /XObject /Subtype /Image /Width 550 /Height 140 /Filter /FlateDecode /DecodeParms << /Predictor 15 /Colors 1 /Columns 550 /BitsPerComponent 8>> /ColorSpace /DeviceGray /BitsPerComponent 8 /Length 5329>> stream xqDǯ뺒$ILfff&I335Lf2\3I2L&_3$3I$d+$\W=9y9lLss99P`0 `0 `0 `0 !U_:~u = F~sZŻدns⃪Qg¢G(F[-s͓^ DZ>d>3Dr#\OΉ, ZFwjux<;4Ƀxز#_v?nO<|{7c(b{Oū}w[N e~Hs䎷wwOn<1B.k+%U=eԘ -mCj)t:}c'ϓ*n"-ovkZ?R"V%wʶ7s]eX&eǕq` 1-2e JYHCFOUam 7:(Ԙt_@ހN t{B~ :V@}o#7!z^&zFL:ʤn X<- %"bNWqF c` M'4?cH-V`ǵAF>=#Ěm75dB I&7E5<>-͏їFǿl3M6x]Y&)2 FoΌ N.<t i4wL\^=_|Fo؏IȄ ik$ɄL?{?|tmCޮ=~T&iTevϷ'奔s?EꋄLPY͹箵?@L:Aˤ3y_:9AtA*0qVe- e6g)%a}.qKcI V/xʤzM|\ HSql0;*%+Mذ-闛obebu2iU&lLbtIcxb5^B#8 ޮaʻ _ w>j+L:$"&O;bZ K1 jmU玫ݢ=S/J<WO2'_yUPvp=`"aL5 Nl7"rlQT޼==-I[Se* F'(\`󴯉'{:נnVZ TG6*r$Tyx^LJū.C<3` %ANrxUo"˄ 0&$tO F&bIcW3GG͈ y!{m,LkCI d,(2"@ dR%F1thUL8Rݒ^+v9^?sʯYעDl~Qd" N2sc|ov}=F,3K#vxIvG^,[OM&wI[#,Jޙ\ض;L^fv[LbyYvM#/EI#/Zס$(ڼ ," &LK/IF i-Zx彰픢]MKeR n(PhV'LҸ\f$w/ e]"mɷWO߻˱ KerSPe (ӼGMȈ}X?ʍto7ZKl+81_Y&ǡd uʤ1Vw!sQ"/$zNkw(t)2BWQW"˄OXLp:e‡# וzn2F}qlc5ؾ:WH xLz LP:d# Q>(MRېd2Qt$o~R$YR5,-nޜLr_βehd" 2k1lvO X= eC p+[R=jU!֖}_DޟY2 (*wkZQ>Fl̲soR#^u3hhyTԲt.LtD8sk4z4Rbl@zp4hy0Tn\=.fnő Y/:TC9<@fSI$:QR/bq7DfR/ֻn)Vqd"䳽˄GL;ϝRG顼n&%Sv eFv,L"t}I&N> D73]$e)( ;]XhL`kSzJlcC$<)깍h}dr,1ܝRM뭍eMa $?e3f8΍҈&P(x+JU5{I 3 M- ;7|#G9 !\œ&=xp2,L{-`?OW":4uܚEadv ~9q.VdV%UT@73$@W¯B!ݒaVLH:!opr;gAɀiήpfߙR E/IDO*Luf0}{7mfyDxT.g)w5RvHx#Z]&M$ gZUTt+lZqZ_;a&JaG,-JLJDFIcV|:I3nB&;N0Lna=Y_Gl,p5,,kc EKgd;2vt7selT9˸sX޲.6r<1!| L0lTMS1?Xsf cq )KSgBB&׭x. v c@^Yk΀v],E[ɾ QhYyXXC2)g/J@su1ScL, ?C[{V2i͛!סӠ&> 6lu>4Ƕʤ|=12鱧l{^:a/Y%~].26G: p^CZ V&Vedҟ?RrX7d#I]ՕuL1 ?_ /12IEh ̴b<ӯ^e _ϝ䰻^]vy> /ColorSpace /DeviceRGB /BitsPerComponent 8 /Length 873>> stream x1j08-K/)],) &gi+:U̲\"9H!@"9H!@"9H!@eY.Z[p_E{QHKV[/`j%ʒcP,SX4W{7urd5ɱPr:-ֆʇX$$zfZpClbw7z{[]qGlwlGlZiM,ߺ7x}w` L9=3zpWL9 j)ۓB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$e]k` B$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$/؋ endstream endobj 17 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /CA 0.3 >> endobj 18 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /ca 0.3 >> endobj 19 0 obj << /Type /Page /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] /Parent 3 0 R /Contents 20 0 R >> endobj 20 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 1290 >> stream xVr6+nwɌ !.2I2Ӥ5]@(""Q?#I'|jeɠ)8<.pޝ,iy,;{Bt<EG{ ͞?8 J $]+zw|PrOl)/3>9%NWl}y.f,3cEOST:(GCkio@v4C7Q^(#(@u>|Z&t۫-5 5;%jUDm,֩ mT-^@j t׫i!ʢHQ,A\Nm̲/=9iuJv#,Q7Nm燘;L%h'7 6)P\YKqj7 Xv8]FD%=5ꖺ LNW)y)<2[} S p8Ea_[,^pAX! ^}B RRCPׇWD9Ph,LP(>қ6=8cl( tGz:탖&jQy20,ښFmM':(þc^z ̖"+!4dbXnb*g{^AAO.!Uj $d4y`ፀyDVb tEG&h#d!(6c"OѰ+ ]xg>ͻu&)$"K39vXR;x5( WрFsC &RfwR) AuGk *_C74^/RXLS\= Z.(oR1Xtlmc¡@TFI&jpPIMqLΈ `@QEb "\aJ}MC XEJ5{o7ۘ˭Qޏv#h/f$|UB|:IJL+o7oû8gcy JRTx{:_MG{>ZwP3rO5kq~^K r'F vQw9o }?[?~?/|=ӑ[LO:YvgyqoΈ endstream endobj 21 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /CA 1 >> endobj 22 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /ca 1 >> endobj 23 0 obj << /Type /XObject /Subtype /Image /Width 550 /Height 140 /Filter /FlateDecode /DecodeParms << /Predictor 15 /Colors 1 /Columns 550 /BitsPerComponent 8>> /ColorSpace /DeviceGray /BitsPerComponent 8 /Length 5329>> stream xqDǯ뺒$ILfff&I335Lf2\3I2L&_3$3I$d+$\W=9y9lLss99P`0 `0 `0 `0 !U_:~u = F~sZŻدns⃪Qg¢G(F[-s͓^ DZ>d>3Dr#\OΉ, ZFwjux<;4Ƀxز#_v?nO<|{7c(b{Oū}w[N e~Hs䎷wwOn<1B.k+%U=eԘ -mCj)t:}c'ϓ*n"-ovkZ?R"V%wʶ7s]eX&eǕq` 1-2e JYHCFOUam 7:(Ԙt_@ހN t{B~ :V@}o#7!z^&zFL:ʤn X<- %"bNWqF c` M'4?cH-V`ǵAF>=#Ěm75dB I&7E5<>-͏їFǿl3M6x]Y&)2 FoΌ N.<t i4wL\^=_|Fo؏IȄ ik$ɄL?{?|tmCޮ=~T&iTevϷ'奔s?EꋄLPY͹箵?@L:Aˤ3y_:9AtA*0qVe- e6g)%a}.qKcI V/xʤzM|\ HSql0;*%+Mذ-闛obebu2iU&lLbtIcxb5^B#8 ޮaʻ _ w>j+L:$"&O;bZ K1 jmU玫ݢ=S/J<WO2'_yUPvp=`"aL5 Nl7"rlQT޼==-I[Se* F'(\`󴯉'{:נnVZ TG6*r$Tyx^LJū.C<3` %ANrxUo"˄ 0&$tO F&bIcW3GG͈ y!{m,LkCI d,(2"@ dR%F1thUL8Rݒ^+v9^?sʯYעDl~Qd" N2sc|ov}=F,3K#vxIvG^,[OM&wI[#,Jޙ\ض;L^fv[LbyYvM#/EI#/Zס$(ڼ ," &LK/IF i-Zx彰픢]MKeR n(PhV'LҸ\f$w/ e]"mɷWO߻˱ KerSPe (ӼGMȈ}X?ʍto7ZKl+81_Y&ǡd uʤ1Vw!sQ"/$zNkw(t)2BWQW"˄OXLp:e‡# וzn2F}qlc5ؾ:WH xLz LP:d# Q>(MRېd2Qt$o~R$YR5,-nޜLr_βehd" 2k1lvO X= eC p+[R=jU!֖}_DޟY2 (*wkZQ>Fl̲soR#^u3hhyTԲt.LtD8sk4z4Rbl@zp4hy0Tn\=.fnő Y/:TC9<@fSI$:QR/bq7DfR/ֻn)Vqd"䳽˄GL;ϝRG顼n&%Sv eFv,L"t}I&N> D73]$e)( ;]XhL`kSzJlcC$<)깍h}dr,1ܝRM뭍eMa $?e3f8΍҈&P(x+JU5{I 3 M- ;7|#G9 !\œ&=xp2,L{-`?OW":4uܚEadv ~9q.VdV%UT@73$@W¯B!ݒaVLH:!opr;gAɀiήpfߙR E/IDO*Luf0}{7mfyDxT.g)w5RvHx#Z]&M$ gZUTt+lZqZ_;a&JaG,-JLJDFIcV|:I3nB&;N0Lna=Y_Gl,p5,,kc EKgd;2vt7selT9˸sX޲.6r<1!| L0lTMS1?Xsf cq )KSgBB&׭x. v c@^Yk΀v],E[ɾ QhYyXXC2)g/J@su1ScL, ?C[{V2i͛!סӠ&> 6lu>4Ƕʤ|=12鱧l{^:a/Y%~].26G: p^CZ V&Vedҟ?RrX7d#I]ՕuL1 ?_ /12IEh ̴b<ӯ^e _ϝ䰻^]vy> /ColorSpace /DeviceRGB /BitsPerComponent 8 /Length 873>> stream x1j08-K/)],) &gi+:U̲\"9H!@"9H!@"9H!@eY.Z[p_E{QHKV[/`j%ʒcP,SX4W{7urd5ɱPr:-ֆʇX$$zfZpClbw7z{[]qGlwlGlZiM,ߺ7x}w` L9=3zpWL9 j)ۓB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$e]k` B$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$/؋ endstream endobj xref 0 25 0000000000 65535 f 0000000009 00000 n 0000000074 00000 n 0000000120 00000 n 0000000461 00000 n 0000000498 00000 n 0000000647 00000 n 0000000750 00000 n 0000002284 00000 n 0000002391 00000 n 0000002499 00000 n 0000002609 00000 n 0000002722 00000 n 0000002838 00000 n 0000002867 00000 n 0000002977 00000 n 0000008552 00000 n 0000009683 00000 n 0000009742 00000 n 0000009801 00000 n 0000009906 00000 n 0000011270 00000 n 0000011327 00000 n 0000011384 00000 n 0000016959 00000 n trailer << /Size 25 /Root 1 0 R /Info 5 0 R /ID[] >> startxref 18090 %%EOF life lines_ Growing old | Caring Magazine

Vol. #28

Grace Uncovered

Read Issue

Latest Impact StoriesView All

Popular Topics

PopularView All

life lines_ Growing old

October 8, 2013
3 minute read
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0
Listen to this article

By Ian Robinson, Major

A colleague mentioned—with some fear and a lot of trepidation—that she would be 50 on her next birthday. It shocked her because she felt no older than 35. I know the feeling. Next month I will turn 65, but I don’t feel a day over 50!

This whole growing old thing has been on my mind a lot recently. It started when I applied for my small British pension, which starts coming into my bank account next month. We have been feverishly looking for somewhere to stay because The Salvation Army’s policies and procedures say I must retire next year, when I turn 66—no ifs, ands or buts. I am still trying to find a loophole around that one. And we are hoping to find a nice job somewhere in Southern California so we don’t have to take trains, planes and automobiles to visit the grandkids. (All offers considered.)

Several years ago I preached a sermon series called “Growing Old without Growing Cold.” One of the illustrations in the first message said, “You know you are growing old when…”

 

• your knees buckle and your belt won’t.

• you know all the answers but no one asks the questions.

• you finally get it all together and then you can’t remember where you put it.

• your pacemaker opens the garage door whenever you see a pretty lady go by.

• the little gray-haired lady you help across the street is your wife!

• the gleam in your eye is just the sun reflecting on your trifocals.

• it takes more time to recover than it did to tire out.

• you sink your teeth into a nice juicy steak and they stay there.

Enoch was one Bible character who knew how to grow old without growing cold. Gen. 5:24 tells us that, Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away (NIV). At the youthful age of 300, Enoch was relieved of all the troubles and tribulations of old age. The book of Hebrews gives us further insight into Enoch’s character. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God (Heb. 11:5b). No wonder God wanted to take him home—the word for “pleased” means “gratified entirely.” Of course, that should be the aim of every Christian. The Apostle Paul confirmed this when he wrote, So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it (2 Cor. 5:9).

Could that be my retirement plan? If I live to please God like Enoch, he will take me home to be with him before I get much older? Sorry, it doesn’t work that way! I only live to please God because of all that he has already done for me. I am saved by grace, sanctified by the Holy Spirit and promised eternal life in heaven—complete with a mansion—when I eventually go home. So I will grow old, gracefully and passionately, without growing cold, knowing that someday I will see my Savior face to face.

My favorite lyricist described it this way:

Someday I will stand before your throne,

And I’ll be known.

Someday I will kneel beneath your feet

And know I’m home.

One day I will see you and you’ll wipe my tears awe

Then my fears and sadness will all vanish on that day.

                                                           (Isobel Robinson)

Download this page as a PDF

You May Also Like