When do we stop growing? Last week I wrote about my ten month old grandboys, Luke and Sam. They have a lot of growing ahead of them. In fact, if they stopped growing their parents would be very concerned. Physically, they will shoot up like their cousins, Owen and Griffin. I expect all four of them will be over 6 feet tall. Weight wise, they'll add another 150 pounds or more. Developmentally, they're learning volumes, as they acquire language skills, dexterity skills, information and understanding. When will they stop growing?
When do we stop growing? Physically we are at our tallest by our early 20's. Weight wise...that's a big question mark. Knowledge wise, we may go into deceleration as we reach retirement years, staying up on current events, but anticipating a reduction on influence and impact we scale back on the scope of new knowledge gained. I'm now in my sixties. There is always the temptation to accept social convention that relevance declines with advancing years, that when you reach the upper ages its totally acceptable to saddle up and ride the rest of your days toward the sunset, but I don't want to go there. I was just like Luke and Sam once, a small baby starting to grow. As the years went by growth just happened. I didn't give it a lot of thought. But as I got older I realized I wanted to have input into my growth. I committed to four things: to continue to gain knowledge and understanding to function well in an advancing world; to develop core convictions upon which to build a life, to do my part to stay healthy for as long as possible, and to keep growing in my relationship with God for a lifetime. When do we stop growing? Not while we are still breathing.
I imagine that's how God wants it to go.
When do we stop growing? Physically we are at our tallest by our early 20's. Weight wise...that's a big question mark. Knowledge wise, we may go into deceleration as we reach retirement years, staying up on current events, but anticipating a reduction on influence and impact we scale back on the scope of new knowledge gained. I'm now in my sixties. There is always the temptation to accept social convention that relevance declines with advancing years, that when you reach the upper ages its totally acceptable to saddle up and ride the rest of your days toward the sunset, but I don't want to go there. I was just like Luke and Sam once, a small baby starting to grow. As the years went by growth just happened. I didn't give it a lot of thought. But as I got older I realized I wanted to have input into my growth. I committed to four things: to continue to gain knowledge and understanding to function well in an advancing world; to develop core convictions upon which to build a life, to do my part to stay healthy for as long as possible, and to keep growing in my relationship with God for a lifetime. When do we stop growing? Not while we are still breathing.
I imagine that's how God wants it to go.
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