Reality Check

Originally posted 9-11-07

So there we were, in the midst of a great service Sunday night. We were worshiping around the alter after the choir had sung. Then it happened. Pastor felt led to call all those of conquerors age to the front. That’s right, those 12-36. It didn't hit me immediately. It took several moments. Then the dark realization came over me. Then the hole was dug deeper and deeper as my friends passed me by, some shooing me to the side of the sanctuary, making it known that I needed to move back. The agony continued as my wife, her face beaming with the biggest grin I have ever known her to have, moving past me and into the group that was "more her age."

So, now I have experienced it. The humiliation, the despair of knowing that Pentecostal youth has passed me by. I can no longer say I am part of the “youth group.” Am I no longer a young married? Oh the confusion of it all. Will the schedule for the senior church activities start arriving at my home, or even worse, in my mailbox at church? Oh dear, I hear Taps playing already. What am I to do? Is being called “more than a conqueror” really supposed to uplift me?

Well, I suppose it is the cross that I must bear now; the burden that God has placed on me. Somehow, with His grace and mercy, I shall continue to march forward, yearning for brush harbors, penny marches and an old-fashioned rendition of “I’ll Live On.” Yes, through eternity, I’ll live on.

Pray for me,

Elder Buie