Just Getting Started

Recently, a friend of mine visiting from out of town asked me what our retirement plans were. This line of questioning is getting more and more common as are the discount offers like pre-paid crematory services and coupons from The Scooter Store. I guess I need to look in the mirror…father time is marching on.

Given the economy of the last five years, I have become comfortable with the uplifting answer that I am planning on working until I die or become disabled.  While this may sound like a sad little response, I find it one of great joy. You see, I feel like I’m just getting started!

It wasn’t too terribly long ago that I was beyond burnout and exhaustion. The economy had left me disillusioned and empty. I did not enjoy the day to day. I had an attitude of just getting by and “the end” was nowhere in sight.  The irony was, this discontentment turned out to be my biggest blessing.  I began to question everything – including how I spend my days and how I use the gifts God has given me. I sought advice and respite from trusted friends, I dug deeper into my church and the Bible, and I prayed. Boy did I pray! I prayed for wisdom, guidance and strength. I prayed for courage. But most of all, I prayed for God to change my heart about how I viewed my work and what that work should be. That is a scary prayer when you have mortgages to pay and kids to feed and put through college.

But I should have known…God loved that prayer. He had been waiting for me to turn to Him for help and hope. Today, I am filled with a brand new perspective and outlook on life. I have new dreams, new hopes and new plans. And while I might be on the shady side of forty, I feel like the sun is just beginning to rise on the second half of my life. One that is more congruent and aligned with what I was put on this earth to do and people to walk it out with me who feel the same way. I am filled with so much joy and excitement about the direction I am headed that I can’t imagine stopping. Instead of counting down the days, I’m worried I won’t have enough time to do all I want to do!  I am so very thankful for this massive change of heart.

It’s so easy to get caught up in getting by or just surviving or staying with the status quo. I know God wants so much more for us than that. A “new thing” is available to all who ask.

Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the
desert and streams in the wasteland.
Isaiah 43:18-19

Are you ready for a “new thing?” Let me hear from you. The Scooter Store and local crematory will have to wait a little bit longer – We’re just getting started!

Kelly Greer is the publisher of Gwinnett Magazine. She is also a disheveled working mom, mostly recovered control freak, and faith warrior – believing that the best is yet to come for all of us. When not annoying people with her talk of destinies, passion and purpose, you can find her living out her dreams in Buford, Ga. Reach her at kelly@gwinnettmagazine.com.

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