Sixty is the New Fifty-Nine

Yep, it's happened. With yet another trip around the sun, my personal odometer has turned over and I am, as the title of the post implies, sixty years old.

When I was younger, 60 sounded really, really old... and sometimes the aches & pains of my aging body remind me that younger me wasn't completely off base. But most of the time, I feel like my attitude about life is younger than my physical age.

This week, I've found myself reflecting on the past six decades of my life.

• I spent nearly half of my life in full-time vocational ministry as a Southern Baptist youth minister, church planter, and pastor... then spent nearly a decade without preaching until last year. 
• Shari & I just celebrated our 34th wedding anniversary - I'm so incredibly thankful that she said "yes" so many years ago and has been my companion and best friend through all the high & lows of life.
• I've been a dad for more than a third of my years on this planet - Braeden is 23 and Collin is 19 - and I could not be prouder of who they are as young men. (I'm really looking forward to our road trip to Gulf Games together next month.)
• Speaking of board games, I'm honored to have friends scattered around the country (and the world) due to my involvement in this hobby. I've had the privilege to playtest a wide variety of games (Heroscape, Suburbia, Unmatched: Battle of Legends, etc.) and review countless others for the Opinionated Gamers site and this blog.
• I've had a lot of different jobs in addition to being a pastor - I've worked in a call center, I've flipped hamburgers (back in the "my McDonalds uniform was made of polyester" days), I've served on a packaging line, I've ghostwritten material for multiple books, I've done data entry/payables (back in the Lotus 1-2-3 days), I've worked for the State Legislature in IT, I've consulted on a book on board games for Klutz Publishing, and I currently have spent more than a decade working for the Tennessee Department of Education.

Most importantly, I've been a follower of Jesus for almost all of my life. I made a profession of faith at the age of seven... and I'd love to tell you that it's been smooth sailing ever since. But that would be a lie. In Andrew Peterson's song, "The Good Confession", he describes his younger self with these words:

Through the years

I barely fell;

I mostly dove right in.

I drank so deep

From the shallow well

Only to thirst again.

Still, His grace is real. Over and over, I've experienced the love of God calling me to follow Him - not as a punishment or as a penance for my mistakes, but as a deeply loved child and friend. 

On this day, I'm pausing to remember how thankful I am for all of the things that have shaped me - both the wonderful gifts and the incredible difficulties. I have things I wish I'd have done differently - times where I should have made a better and/or different decision - but I have no desire to rewind the clock.