Tag Archive | Growing Older

Another Birthday

© Wendy Anne Clark, 2026

Another year has passed, and like many before it, it was a very quick year, and still a lot happened. There were some big events: at the beginning of the year, our daughter Heather and her husband Phil had their first child, our first grandchild, Luke, and we flew to Marseille soon after he was born to meet him. Roy and I, along with Haley and Hannah, took a trip to visit the family again at the beginning of June. Two trips to France, flying “standby,” which is its own kind of adventure. We took a trip to the Grand Canyon and attended the wedding of our niece, Karli, in Arizona. We traveled to see a Christmas concert in Chicago–Michael W. Smith, Amy Grant, CeCe Winans.

I continued immunotherapy treatments for endometrial cancer while, at the same time, a friend with a similar diagnosis, on a similar timeline, chose to stop her cancer treatments and went to be with Jesus. I don’t know how to process the similarities and differences in our journeys, but they have caused me to lean even more heavily into Jesus and to trust more firmly in God’s plans for me, whatever they may be.

We moved to a new house again this year. We have now lived in 6 houses in the 11 years that we have been in the Wood River Valley. This move was unexpected because at the end of 2024, the owner of the house assured us that we would be able to sign a new lease for another year at the end of April, 2025, but, in March, she changed her mind and told us we would need to leave by April 30th. Unexpected and certainly inconvenient since I had surgery in March, and Roy had surgery in April, and neither of us could lift boxes or move furniture. But . . . we were able to hire movers to help us this time, and we had the help of many friends, so we were settled into a new house at the first of May.

Though we continued to look for a new location for the Coffee House and the House Church, we were unable to find a place that would work, and we moved church to the new house–a beautiful place with lots of room and a pastor and his wife as landlords. We recognize this house as a very gracious gift from God at just the right time.

Most of life, however, is not made up of the big events, but the ordinary, everyday ones, interspersed with challenges and celebrations. Every day, meeting with God in the morning, as I have done for decades now. Studying through Isaiah, starting Jeremiah and Proverbs, re-reading and reflecting on The Practice of the Presence of God, reading Dallas Williard’s book Renovation of the Heart, biographies of Mother Theresa and Lottie Moon, several novels by Charles Martin, and too many Bible study books to name.

Praying daily through long lists of prayer requests for family and friends and strangers. Writing articles and talks, filming YouTube videos, listening and watching personal testimonies of faith and videos on apologetics.

For women’s Bible study we worked through the Navigator’s book Growing Strong in God’s Family. Our group went through some growth, from a consistent two, to a consistent seven or eight, something that God decided to do. I continued preparing for and leading worship for our church service and cooking dinners each week.

Every Sunday, I met with two groups of ladies at the jail for worship and Bible study. It’s difficult to express how meaningful this is in my life and all that God is teaching me through this experience. I am so thankful for this opportunity. If you ever get the opportunity to serve, and on the surface it looks like “work,” don’t be afraid to step up and step in. Don’t miss the amazing things God will do when we just keep showing up.

Last year, at the first of the year, I chose the word “new” for a spiritual focus for the year. I reflected on these two passages:

Remember Not–Isaiah 43:18-19

“Remember not the former things,
    nor consider the things of old.
Behold, I am doing a new thing;
    now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
    and rivers in the desert.”

Remember–Isaiah 46:9-10

“Remember the former things of old;
for I am God, and there is no other;
    I am God, and there is none like me,
declaring the end from the beginning
    and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,
    and I will accomplish all my purpose.”

What new things did I encounter? New grandson, new home, new ideas, new friends, new visitors to church, new group of ladies at the jail, new understanding about God’s plans, God’s purposes, and God’s ways.

I had to let go of my vision of the Coffee House and the House Church and wait on God for what He wants to do next and how He wants to do it. We are still expecting that we will have a neutral ministry location to reach out to and to connect with our community, a version of the Coffee House, but it will not be what it was before. We perceive that God is doing a new thing. We don’t yet fully know what that will look like.

My word for this year is “rescue,” and the verse that has brought focus to the word is Proverbs 24:11:

“Rescue those who are being taken away to death;
hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.”

God’s purpose for me is that I would do my part to reach out to rescue those who are lost and perishing, to act as an ambassador on God’s behalf and call out loudly: “Be reconciled to God” and then to point to Jesus as the only way of salvation.

The door to the ark is open, and the storm clouds are gathering overhead, but only those who will enter into the way of salvation that God has provided will be saved. All those who seek to save themselves in some other way will be lost. There were no life boats, floating around the outside of the ark. And when the time was right — God Himself shut the door.

So this year, I will focus on what it means to reach out to rescue those who are perishing, to pull back from the edge those who are teetering over the cliff. I will focus on having a greater sense of the urgency of sharing the Gospel and even more boldness and courage.

“And pray also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel . . . Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should” (Ephesians 6:19-20).

And now I am 62, and I look forward to another year walking with Jesus and growing in knowledge, understanding, and wisdom.

Changed and Changing

Jan16

I’m not the person I once was and not the person that I will one day be. And that’s very good news.

Today, I have lived 59 years.That’s amazing to me and somewhat unbelievable. Wasn’t I in my twenties just moments ago? In truth I’ve been planting many seeds in my life in the past 30 years (and more). As I look back at the growth in my life in the past 30 years, what does the crop look like that I am harvesting now?

I’ve learned to love better, much better. I’m more patient in difficult circumstances and with difficult people. I’ve learned how to wait well, to wait on GOD as a loving Father and to be more compassionate with hurting people. I treat people more gently and with more kindness.

I feel peaceful most of the time, no matter what manner of chaos is going on around me. I live with deep joy.

All of these things have grown in me, not because I am someone outstanding or amazing, but because over time I have learned to surrender to the prodding of the Holy Spirit in my life, day after day after day. I have come to understand the benefit of surrendering quickly and fully to the Holy Spirit, to not try to battle it out with the GOD of the universe. I have experienced His goodness and His grace, His great kindness and tender mercy.

I have responded to the hunger and thirst for the Word that the Holy Spirit has stirred in me, and it has continued to grow more deep and vast, and my view of Scripture has grown richer and more intense. It’s been opened up to me in a way that Wendy in her twenties only dreamed of. Consequently, I have grown consistent in seeking GOD through His Word and have gradually expanded my morning time with Him, wanting so much more.

I sense GOD’s presence so very close to me all throughout the day now, every day. If I feel fearful or anxious, my first and immediate response is to go to GOD as my loving Father in prayer and worship. He is my refuge. He comforts me, leads me, and holds me. He faithfully draws out all fear and worry. In His presence is perfect peace.

I knew GOD well when I was 39. I’d had babies and cancer and healing. I knew Him even better at 49.I’d had failures and successes and walked in more confidence and less fear.

At 59 I realize that I’ve only begun to know Him. In the past decade I’ve relied even more on my heavenly Father for strength, comfort, direction, and provision. With my family I uprooted my life, resettled in another state, changed careers, started a ministry, and left behind a wonderful life for an equally wonderful, entirely different one. I’ve lost both of my parents and have celebrated the lives they lived serving Jesus. I’ve moved into a new season where my siblings and I are now in that “older” generation.

And throughout all of these changes, I’ve continued to grow in my knowledge and understanding of GOD. And He is wonderful. I suspect that throughout Eternity I will be learning, growing, and knowing more and that there will be no end to the expanding depth and richness of understanding about who GOD is and how deeply He loves me.

I’m not done growing and changing. New challenges have revealed new places in me in need of GOD’s tender transformation, and I am confident that He will continue to refine me as I continue to cooperate with all that He wants to do in my life.

And whatever this next year holds for me, I know that GOD will be faithful to His promises. He will never leave me (Hebrews 13:15), He will supply everything that I need (Philippians 4:19), and He will work out all things for my good (Romans 8:28).

The last birthday of my fifties. The last year before turning 60. Ready.Set.Go!

Another Year, Already

Jan15

January 15

Tomorrow I will be 59. How is that possible? Wasn’t I just 29 a few days ago? How did the last 30 years go by so quickly and at the same time seem a lifetime ago?

The incredible passage of time. When I was young, older people told me about it. Some warned, some lamented, some kindly informed. My mom mused, saying that she felt like she was “still twenty inside.”

But I couldn’t understand. I couldn’t conceive of it. Difficult times seemed long. Time seemed slow. Looking back I realize that sense of time was a persuasive illusion. GOD, in His Word had told me otherwise:

“As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more” (Psalm 105:15-16).

I believed Him, but I didn’t quite understand how that could be. And then I began to see.

The moments came, and the moments passed, and then they were so quickly gone. I learned that if I wanted to slow down the bullet train of time, zooming me through life, I should stop and savor. Others before me knew it. Walter Hagen wrote back in the 1960s, “Don’t hurry. Don’t worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way,” and people started saying, “Stop and smell the roses,” and as I started to sense the incredible passage of time, I did. I stopped.

I learned to enjoy the moment, to be present in it, to pause and make memories that I could carry with me in my mind into the future. To never miss the moment of now in favor of reaching for some moment in the future.

So I ask, “GOD, what do you want me to do today? I want to please You.” Sometimes the answer involves planning and preparation that will take me into tomorrow, next week, next year, but always the answer involves paying attention to the people around me and walking in wisdom here and now.

I’m convinced that it is by GOD’s design that I become increasingly aware of the incredible passage of time and the brevity of this life. Seasons come and seasons go. In some places they are more difficult to perceive (like when I was growing up in Southern California), but here in Idaho, it’s not easy to overlook the pile of snow that reaches almost up to my back window.

Experience has taught me that the snow will melt, spring will come, mild and green and blooming; summer will follow, bright and warm, with long, full days; autumn will usher in beautiful colors and milder temperatures, and the days will start to get shorter once again. And then–I will be looking out my back window at the snow, the pile lower or higher, and I will be another year older.

A long yawn or an intense sneeze, and I might miss it. That’s how it feels at this time of my life.

Wendy at 29, pregnant with her first child, uncomfortable, but ready–she could not sense it, this incredible passage of time. She didn’t know.

I don’t have a sense of how much more time I have ahead of me. Do I have 30 more years? More? Less? A lot less? One of my grandfathers died in his early 60s, another in his 80s, one grandmother in her 70s, but another at 52; my mom lived to be almost 80, and my dad died at 90.

How much time do I have? It is not a question that I concern myself with much. The amount of time seems far less important than the choices I make in using it.

I see the incredible passage of time written on my face and in the faces of my husband and grown children, and I’m sometimes puzzled by the changes that seem accelerated. At the same time, I recognize GOD’s gentle nudge. This world is not my home. Today is passing. I won’t waste it.

And perhaps ironically, I feel great peace in knowing that this is true.