REFLECTIONS AT 40...


On February 5th I turned 40 years old. Out of love for me, I was thoroughly harassed by my staff who came to work wearing all black to "mourn the death of my youth." Additionally, I was greeted with a black coffin in my office, streamers declaring that I was "over the hill," and one friend even gave me a gift of products one would readily find at the local nursing home. You know...it is a great thing to have friends who genuinely love you enough to go to all this trouble to see that I had a GREAT birthday! I do appreciate and love them.

Now that I am 40, I began to think about things that I have learned and found to be true over the past 40 years. Can I share some of these important thoughts with you today?

1. My father was right when he taught me this truth: "It is not what happens to you in life that matters. What matters is how you react to it."
2. John Maxwell was right when he said, "Everything rises and falls on leadership."
3. Personal evangelism never was nor will it ever be a holy suggestion for a Christian. Rather, personal evangelism is a holy obligation for a Christian.
4. Some of the greatest people I have ever met in my life, I met in a Baptist church. Likewise, some of the the meanest people I ever met in my life, I met in a Baptist church. Therefore, never judge a church based on its people, but on its purpose!
5. The success to a long, happy marriage is to learn how to give and take, compromise, communicate, be patient, be active in church, and always end most of your sentences with "Whatever you think honey!"
6. It is true that 100% of all putts that are short never go into the hole!
7. No matter how much time you spend with your children, when they turn 18 and get ready to leave for college you realize it was never enough time!
8. Growing up you think your younger brother is a pest. When you are 40 you have completely realized that your younger brother is actually a wonderful person. By the time you realize this, he lives nine hours away in another state with his wife and your nephews.
9. When your mom and dad turned 40, they were not nearly as old as you thought they were at the time.
10. Your friends care more about you than what you can do for them.
11. Smart people eat "M&M's", vote Republican, attend Southern Baptist Churches, know how to cheer "WAR EAGLE", and do not call hogs...period.

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