Among the many Christmas epistles received during the Christmas season was a letter from a dear old friend in Ohio. Olga has been a real inspiration to me. For many years, she has been a lifelong learner and a pioneer in the work of missions and ministry. Her letter arrived on the 12th day of December, as she had a busy Christmas season. She was born on December 24 and last year, celebrated her 100th birthday on Christmas Eve. I am really looking forward to her next letter filled with her many exciting experiences. She is living every minute of the rest of her life and enjoying the learning process.
Whatever our calling in life may be, we can never stop learning. I need to keep on learning if I want to keep up with life and all its changes. We remember John Glenn's recent trip into space at 77 years of age. It reminds us that in today's world, many senior citizens are fulfilling dreams that were forgotten. Perhaps they had to put their dreams on hold because of circumstances in their lives. We may not be able to orbit hundreds of miles or above the earth like John Glenn did this past year. However, with determination and a lot of creativity, we can be a vital part of our community at any age.
I was recently informed that people who are involved in volunteer services live longer and have rich and productive lives. Tom Brokaw, NBC anchor, has recently written the book entitled "The Greatest Generation." If you were born in the second half of this century, you owe your freedom, your prosperity, and perhaps your life, to the selfless teens and 20 somethings who fought in World War II. Their courage followed by their sense of vision in the post war years changed the world. He calls this generation "the greatest generation" that ever lived. They are the generation that survived the misery of the depression to gear up to fight in World War Two. Adversity led to their great maturity. They were 21 years old and faced life with many challenges.
Now, many are senior citizens and dying at the rate of 100 a day. We need to listen to them. They were the heroes of World War II. They are an inspiration to us and have so much to share with us. Brokaw and his new book The Greatest Generation, argues that these men and women overshadow even the founding fathers in Abraham Lincoln's generation. He states, they stepped up and saved the world. Younger people will be astonished. They'll look at their grandparents in a different way.
A New Year Thought: The author of this quote is unknown. It was quoted by England's King George the fifth when he gave the New Year's greeting to the world, he stated, "Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown." And he replied, "Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God that shall be to you better than a light and safer than a known way." Live every moment of the rest of your life!
Warm Thoughts from the Little Home on the Prairie Over a Cup of Tea written by Dr. Luetta G Werner
Published in the Marion Record January 21st, 1999.
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I hope you enjoyed this podcast episode! Please follow along on this journey by going to visualbenedictions.com or following me on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. You can listen to the podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher, and Overcast. And don’t forget to rate and review so more people can tune in! I’d greatly appreciate it.
Till next time,
Trina