89.5 KTSY Manager's Memo

Call me crazy, but I took advantage of that first day near fifty degrees last week, got my mower out and gave my lawn a good shaving. After I scooped a couple of grocery bags of Jack Jack leavings and three garbage cans full of leaves, limbs and debris. Just like yours, my lawn has been dormant and tan for months. Until I got the mower out and the dead growth was trimmed away. What I found was tiny shoots of green, tiny shoots of new life and promise, lurking beneath the dormant and tired, waiting for sunshine, rain and another feeding.

Feels like my life sometimes. God gets out the scooper, picking up the leavings of sin in my life, then a close cropping of the dead and dormant. Never a pleasant process for the lawn or the holder of the scooper. But what’s left behind, hopefully signs of new life, waiting for sunshine, rain and another feeding that will bring glory and honor to the Giver of Life.

Paul says in Romans 8, my favorite book and chapter, that these present sufferings are nothing compared to the glory that will be revealed in us. In the midst of the bad news surrounding us, I hope this is a reminder for you, too.

Spring is coming.

It was hidden in the stack of mail the post office held for us while we were on vacation last week. A simple envelope, with four upper-case letters marking the logo. A letter that will certainly alter the course of my remaining days. I’m talking, of course, about my first membership application from the American Association of Retired Persons. I’ve been marked by the AARP.

It’s the big five oh for me this week, an age I never dreamed I would live to reach. Yet, here I am, with enough gray hairs, extra pounds and scars to prove a slowing metabolism and deserved AARP moniker.

I was talking to my youngest last week about some of the plans and goals he’s dreaming for his future. I took the opportunity to remind him John Lennon was right. “Life is what happens while you’re making other plans.” At fifty, I’ve discovered the secret, I think. Make plans, dream big for the future, then lay those in God’s hands and most important, then sit back and enjoy the ride.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some paperwork to fill out. Got to love having access to those senior discounts finally.