Not long ago, I reconnected (after 20 years) with a Christian brother on Facebook. He climbs and skis Mt. Shasta, and roars down mountainsides on a fat-tired bike. He runs a company in California (his greatest challenge), and wrestles his 60-plus years to the ground with regularity.

Another friend in Wisconsin, nearing 60 years old, travels internationally. He’s a conference speaker and troubleshooter for a well-known missions organization. He counsels couples living in difficult missionary environments, and his schedule would drive most younger men to their knees…

My three sons and their wives run businesses. One son works two jobs and has 3 children; his wife is a professional opera singer soon to perform Lucia di Lammermoor (she practices hours and hours, between nursing a baby and tending a toddler and a 4-year-old!). My other two sons, with their wives, run four businesses under one roof and between them are raising 7 (oh, wait, one more on the way, so, almost 8) children.

Then there’s Great Grandma:
She climbs into my big 4×4 truck (I hoist her up in stages, with the help of a step stool) and I deliver her to the senior center twice a week to teach painting to a dozen or so adult students. She never misses her classes, even if it’s 20 below zero. Mom’s 87.

What do these Christian examples have in common? Each one is locked in an unalterable season of life. Their stories are strategically situated by Jesus among family, friends, and workplace peers to connect us to, or awaken us to, our eternal destinies.
We are receiving fruit (encouragement, teaching, and Godly influence) as they live out their seasons in our company.

Whose life am I unknowingly touching in my unalterable, challenging season?

Psalm 1:3
He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.