Experience

by James Whiteaker

I was at the farm recently visiting the family. This particular day my dad and I were talking about church. He was telling me about the things they were doing and the missions in which they were involved. The congregation where he goes has a collegiate bible school. In the past we had talked about the students from the school who had been to the house to eat and get produce from the garden. While we were talking he said something that made me sit back a second and think.

My dad is 73. He has had both knees replaced and has the medical conditions that come with age. Growing up, we had worked together on the farm for many years. The cows he raised for me helped put Jason and Berek through high school and college.

His statement was that all he could do now was contribute monetarily to the work. After some thought, I started to reason with him.

I know there are many of you that may think the same thing but as I talked to my dad I told him that the most important gift he had was experience. ( Job 12:12- With aged men is wisdom, And in length of days understanding.) Sharing how God has worked in your life through the years has value beyond words. Talking to family about the past to hear what occurred to get your family where it is now and to hear what experiences shaped their lives, is interesting. You can teach those truths to your grandchildren. You can teach those experiences to the children at inner city. You can teach those experiences to the family at Mt Juliet. You can do many of the Sunday night youth devotionals. You can work with young soldiers. It would be unfortunate if all your experience was not used for God's glory. (Psalms 92:14 They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; They shall be full of sap and green)

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