And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

ESTHER 4:14 (ESV)

I’ve been a little more dependent lately.

I talk a lot about the importance of community. But I’m just like everyone else. I like to think of myself as independent and self-sufficient. It’s a perplexing inner conflict between what I believe and how I want to live.

Sometimes God has to do something like push me down a mountain to get my attention. Just kidding. Sort of. Is it a coincidence that the fracture on the back of my tibia—the one that made me slow down and depend more on others—is shaped like a smile?

Anyway, because of my skiing accident and injury, transportation has become an intricate puzzle to piece together. In March, wonderful friends—old and new—drove me back and forth to therapy and speaking engagements. More old friends babysat my RV for me while I wasn’t driving. And other friends loaned me a smaller, more manageable, but fun car to drive around town when I first started to drive again.

Then came April—with 4500+ miles of travel ahead. I’m driving now, but my leg fatigues easily. I figured long road trips weren’t advisable, and flying might be the best option. But I still have to get from Wichita Falls to the airport in Dallas. My first trip this month was a well-choreographed dance of the generations.

Gen-older

My mom’s friend drove me from Wichita Falls to Decatur. Her age is roughly halfway between my mom’s and mine.

She’s a good friend to my mom and loves her as much as I do. She’s gone down the road of aging parents before me. I love the way she thinks. Her conversation is filled with wisdom, kindness, and humor. Any time I get to spend with her matters.

Gen-mine

Kennetta dropped me off in Decatur, where I met up with an old high school friend for lunch. We caught up on our kids, grandkids, and this new stage of life. I call it my “third-thirty.”

The differences in where we’ve lived or what kind of work we did don’t seem to matter all that much anymore—our concerns are similar. In many ways, we’ve finished the race we’ve been running for most of our adult life—or at least, the finish line is in sight. Our identity is no longer wrapped up in our careers, being parents, or being sons and daughters.

We’re not ready to turn in our running shoes yet. We’ve got a lot of life left to live. We’re trying to find the balance between making room for the next generation, accepting the rest our minds and bodies long for, and finding our next adventure.

Mostly, we want who we were and what we did in the past to matter—and to keep making a difference as we do new things.

Gen-younger

Allye and her three girls picked me up to drive me the rest of the way to Dallas. I can never be around young parents without remembering the strange mix of zeal, energy, and sheer exhaustion of those days in my own life.

But I can’t help thinking how much more complicated their life is than mine was. They’re faced with decisions I never faced. They have to have conversations with their kids I never had to have.

God placed this generation in a different day and time than the one in which I grew up and raised my children. In so many ways, we’re the same—we’re just people, with similar abilities and foibles, hopes and fears, and access to God. But the more Gen-Xers and Millennials I know, the more I believe God has uniquely equipped them to serve Him well in this time. Just like He did us—with our time. Maybe our times shape us. Maybe God created us for our times. Either way, He’s not surprised by what each generation faces, and He prepares us.

I love how deliberate and intentional this generation is. With their kids, with each other, with us, and with God.

They seem to want their faith to have a purpose. To matter. In this world and the next.

Gen-babies

The babies may not drive me anywhere, but they sure did bless my heart from their car seats in the back. Somehow time with them makes me feel young and old at the same time. It’s fascinating to watch them become. They are already living in their generation, and God is preparing them for the work He has ahead for them.

Because their parents are so purposeful in their faith and loving others, they are learning to be doers of the Word, and not just hearers only.

I’m not afraid for them. God has them in His hand, just like He has their parents and the generations that went before them.

They’ll have great challenges. And they’ll face them equipped with everything God has poured into them. They will matter.

In many ways, they’ll matter because their parents mattered, we mattered, and the generations before ours mattered.

Each of us doing our time and traveling the road God put us on.

Come Alongside

Are you blessed to ride along with several generations—the ones who came before and after yours? Will you join me in thanking God for the way He’s equipped each generation for its time? Let’s thank Him for bringing us to the kingdom for such a time as ours. Let’s pray for each generation to matter for God’s kingdom purposes.

Traveling in Grace,

Christi Gibson