Tap Into an 80-Year-Old's Wisdom

Over a scrumptious dinner of skillet biscuits and slow roasted chicken at a hip little restaurant that sprouted up a block away from the house she grew up in, I had the absolute joy of celebrating my mom’s 80th birthday. I asked her what wisdom she’s learned over her years that she could share. ​

Celebrating my mom's birthday with her boyfriend and my brother

Mom didn’t hesitate. 
“Things always work out for good,” she said, nodding. “You might not think they will. They might seem pretty horrible, but they always work out for good.”

She speaks from experience. My sweet, loving mama has lived through enough drama to create a Netflix series that runs several seasons long. When her father abandoned her family when she was little. When her mother was battling cancer. When Mom and her four siblings all lived together in her grandmother’s one bedroom apartment… and all of those things are just in Season 1, before she graduated from high school. 

But my mom? Tells me every day how blessed she is. Because she has incredible friends, a kind, sweet boyfriend, fabulous health, a family who adores her, lives in a darling condo, is active in her local church, and is beloved by everyone she knows. She has endured so much. And it DID all work out. 

As the words fell from her lips Romans 8:28 popped into my mind:
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. 

God has caused everything to work together for my mom who loves God–the struggles. The pain, the sorrow–all of it worked into a bouquet of joy. Mom loves her life and is surrounded by people who love her. It’s just as God promised. Of course it is.

“What else?” I asked Mom.
“Take care of other people,” she answered without missing a beat. 
Mom cares for so many; she speaks from a place of authority. She visits friends in hospitals and nursing homes, cooks and takes countless meals to friends who are sick or who just returned from out of town. She takes friends’ dogs out and waters neighbors’ flowers. She listens to others’ problems and invites people over for a meal or a game night. She lives this out on the regular.

Again, Mom’s words echo the wisdom from the Bible. “Love one another as I have loved you,” Jesus instructed us in John 13:34 moments after He finished washing the disciples dirty, smelly feet.

Mom’s last piece of wisdom was similar, “Be a friend.” 
My brother asked, “Who should I be a friend to?”
Mom answered, “I don’t know. That’s up to you. Just be a friend.”

It reminded me of when a man asked Jesus how to have eternal life. 
Jesus pointed the man to scripture, specifically to, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” Which sounds a lot like “be a friend.” And, just like my brother quickly asked Mom who he should be a friend to, the man quickly asked Jesus, “Who’s my neighbor?”

Jesus answered the man by telling the story of The Good Samaritan, showing us that everyone is our neighbor. We’re supposed to love everybody. Just like Mom left her answer open-ended, knowing everybody could use a friend. If we see someone at the proverbial side of the road or perhaps sitting by themselves at a game, meeting, or gathering we can chat with them, offer a smile, a handshake, maybe sit down next to them–be a friend.

Mom blowing out the candles on her cake

I’m sure my mom could have continued. She’s lived so well, so firmly rooted in her faith in Jesus and love for others. I was struck with how each nugget of wisdom she shared came straight from scripture. It makes so much sense, because the Bible holds so much wisdom. God dictated the words to human scribes, so that we could step into the full life God always intended for us to have all the way back to when He first placed humans in the glorious Garden of Eden. And every day since the day we messed up by eating the one thing God told us was bad for us, God has been trying to take us back to His goodness over and over again, to lands flowing with milk and honey (Exodus 3:8), to peace, love, and joy (Galatians 5:22), to truth and life, so that we may have life and have it to the full (John 10:10).

I highly advise listening to the wisdom of the people you respect who are a generation or two ahead of you. They’ve done a heck of a lot of living and have so much to teach us. But also, I advise opening your Bible or Bible App. You don't have to live for eighty years to access this wisdom!!! It's right at your fingertips! It doesn’t matter what time of day or if you listen or read, but get into God’s Word. Let it wash over you. Let His wisdom that He always intended you to know and flourish by fill your heart and mind. 

Trust in the fact that God DOES work all things together for good. It’s who He is. 
Take a moment to do something kind for someone else today–it can be as simple as shooting a text or helping someone carry in their armful of supplies (or toddlers). 
And be a friend. 

It will help you step into the goodness God has for you and you, like my mama, just might find yourself declaring, “I’m so incredibly blessed.”

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