Back in the 1960’s, I spent 3 summers in California with dad’s brother’s family. My Uncle Edward and Aunt Joyce were always welcoming, not just to me but to many young people.

During those teenage summers, my cousins and I spent most of our time in a very small desert town named Hesperia, where my aunt and uncle had a vacation home. Just a few short blocks off Main Street, we were in the wilds of the Mojave Desert: tumble weed, cacti, Joshua trees, and endless sand.

When we weren’t working our day jobs, we took advantage of the wide open spaces to ride horses and then after dark, would pile into pick-up trucks to hunt kangaroo rats and rabbits.

All this was heaven to a girl from the Chicago suburbs.

Our guy-friends worked as hay bucks, hooking 100-pound bales and stacking them in neat rows on a flatbed truck.

We girls often visited them on the job, bringing chocolate milk and cookies to wherever they were working. Sometimes they’d let us ride atop the bales, an experience much like leading a parade on a decorated float.

The other day while driving on a Chicago expressway, I spotted a truck piled high with hay bales, triggering the memories of those unforgettable summers in the ’60’s. As I drove along, I had fun reminiscing.

Many people say that as we get older, we’re tempted to spend too much time looking back. Soon I’ll turn 70, which means more than 70% of my life will be history. But dwelling on that only leads to believing the lie that my “best years” are behind me.

None of that lines up with the way God wants me to think.

The Bible talks honestly about growing older and how our physical lives inevitably become more difficult. But he also shows us there’s a big difference between an oldster who partners with him and one who doesn’t.

If we’re following him, he wants us to have his perspective: that eternal life begins at the same time earthly life begins. Once a new life has been conceived, the soul never dies. And understanding this puts all of life on a smooth timeline moving seamlessly from life-now to life-then. If we believe this, the emotional burden that aging often brings is lifted, and every year can be a “best” year.

God also offers a deep inner calm, separate and apart from whatever the calendar says we ought to be feeling. And though reminiscing is fun, we should never shy away from eyeing the future… with confidence. As we follow God’s lead, we can continue learning and growing without any gaps — right into eternity.

As for bales of hay in the Chicago suburbs? One day after those 3 spectacular summers had ended, our mailman brought me the best gift ever: a 100 pound bale of hay, sent all the way from Hesperia!

“He will not much remember the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.” (Ecclesiastes 5:20)