It’s Never Too Late

 

Are there dreams you still want to experience? Are there plans and goals you have almost given up on? What kind of reasons have you given yourself to give up? Do you tell yourself your too old, too tired, too, what? We’ve all heard about millionaires who didn’t even try to get rich until they retired, like Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken. But, do you know a real person who has done something wonderful and dramatic after a certain age? If not then celebrity stories may seem a little too far removed from you for reality. Well, let me tell you about a friend of mine who is as real a person as you and me.

Carolyn Williams has been divorced and she’s been widowed. She was a single mother for many years and remarried about two years ago. Soon after that she accomplished another feat; she published her first book, Mystery in the Pines through Tate Publishing. She and her husband travel around the United States, schedule book signings everywhere they go as well as regularly attending local fairs of all kinds to promote her book. Her husband is her best promoter. They are deeply in love and still act like newlyweds. You’d never know they were senior citizens. Neil is 74 and Carolyn is 69. They live life with a zest and joy that comes straight from God.

So, what is holding you back from chasing your dream?

What is Your Passion?

What is your passion? What fuels your jets? What lights your fire? What gets you going? What keeps you going? Whatever that is, regardless of what anyone else thinks, that is what you must do with your life.

Search yourself. Seek out and find the source of your joy for that will be the source of your strength. Thankfully I found the source of my joy as a small child. When I was about eight years old I began singing in a children’s church choir. I met and learned about God through his music. Secular music has never spoken to me as God’s music speaks to me even though I love much secular music. I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior when I was 13 years old and received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues when I was 20 years old.

Throughout my life I have experienced some periods of extreme stress and grief even to the point of post traumatic stress after my divorce from an abusive husband. There were times when I didn’t think I’d make it through. But, I did make it through by the grace and through the strength of God. That strength comes from the joy of the Lord. It may not always look like joy because many times joy and happiness can look to be the same thing.

In my times of grief and stress I didn’t feel happiness but I still had my relationship with Jesus to hold me up and carry me through. When I felt that others had abandoned me I knew that God will never abandon me. Along with the joy of the Lord comes a peace that passes all understanding, a peace that I know God is in control even when I have no idea what will happen next. This combination of joy and peace that comes from the source of all strength, Almighty God, is my passion and drives every area of my life.

But happiness can not be underrated. Our joy comes from God but God blesses us with earthly happiness in many different ways. Recently I have experienced some unexpected happiness. It came out of the blue from an unexpected direction and is a happiness I’ve not experienced in a lot of years and never in exactly this way. It is not time to talk about the source of this happiness or how long this happiness will last. It is too new. For now I’m going to take this one step at a time and allow myself to enjoy the experience.

What is your source of joy? What is your source of strength? What gives you happiness?