CLEOEJACKSONIII.COM
  • My Home Page
  • My Life and Ministry
  • My Ongoing Thoughts
  • My Favorite Bible Verses
  • My Favorite Stories
  • My Favorite Jokes
  • My Favorite Quotations
  • My Favorite Web Links
  • My Contact Info
"Helping Others Communicate"

OUT TO PASTURE?

10/27/2023

 
Although it has been only about four days since my last blog post, it seems like it has been a whole year.  And in so many respects, it has – at least for me.

You see, yesterday, I reached a significant milestone as I completed my 61st year of life and turned 62.  Many times throughout my life, I pondered what it might be like one day if l managed to live to my present age.  Of course, in those days, 62 seemed quite old.  But not anymore. 

While my children and grandchildren may see me as old, I don’t see myself as such.  I may look old; but I don’t feel old.  Nor do I think of myself as old.  And if indeed, one is as old as he or she feels, then I like to consider myself a youthful 62.

While I received many congrats from many folks, one in particular stands out.  My daughter sent me a text recounting a conversation she had just had with her two oldest sons (the first and fourth of my seven grandsons respectively), who are all of 6 and 4 years old themselves:

My Daughter:  “It’s October 26, Granddaddy’s birthday!”

Her Six Year Old: “He is 62!”

Her Four Year Old:  “Yeah, Yaya (their name for my wife) and Granddaddy are the same size!”


After I had a hearty laugh, I replied with the “I’m laughing so hard I was crying” emoji face.  While my wife and I are the same age, we are hardly the same size.  She has me by about four months; but I have her by a good eight inches north to south and by an even more commanding 120 pounds east to west! 

By God’s grace, out of our respective 62 years, we have had 40 of them together in wedded bliss (along with seven more which we spent dating beforehand).  In this sense, we truly are a good balance for one another, despite what the scales say.

While neither one of us knows how much time we have left in this world, I pray we will spend it together.  And that it will be filled with as many blessings as the ones so far have been.

But I pray for more.  I pray that we will be able to continue spending our retirement years in a productive manner.  In my own case, as God continues to give me strength, and opportunity, I hope I can use the talents He has given me to glorify Him and enrich the lives of others, be that though speaking, writing, or whatever other platform He may choose.

I am blessed to be able to spend these latter years of my life out in the country amidst an abundance of farms.  But as I walk each and every day and behold the beauty of the pasture land surrounding me, I realize that one must remain vigilant so as not to find himself or herself prematurely “put out to pasture”.

May I be among those the Psalmist referred to as the ones who “flourish like a palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.”  Of these, (in Psalm 92, verses 12-15) he said:  “Planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God.  In old age they will still bear fruit; healthy and green they will remain, to proclaim, ‘The LORD is upright; He is my Rock, and in Him there is no unrighteousness.’”

These days, I think a lot about a single massive apple tree that once stood all alone out in my own grandfather’s pasture.  Though old and weathered, it purely abounded in apples every year of my childhood.  In doing so, it enriched the lives of all who ventured by it.

At this point in my life, I am quite comfortable being out in the pasture, as long as I can still bear fruit in my old age, and be a blessing both to my Heavenly Father and to my fellow man.  I pray to God that I can and will do so for many years to come.

SCRIPTURE SOURCE:

https://biblehub.com/bsb/psalms/92.htm.

Comments are closed.

    Cleo E. Jackson, III

    Occasionally I will add
    a few thoughts to my blog. If you find them inspirational, I will be
    honored.

    Archives

    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010

    Categories

    All