Author: skinministries

Dave is an ordained elder and registered evangelist in the Church of the Nazarene. He was a Chief Warrant Officer 2 and flew helicopters for the Army National Guard. Dave is a 3rd degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. He has worked with Jason Hanson, Luther Ellis, and Jeff Hartings to name a few, as a special trainer for the Detroit Lions. Dave also serves as a chaplain for the Oxford Police Department. He is a frequent contributor to The Citizen newspaper in Ortonville, Michigan. Dave is a graduate of Nazarene Bible College in 1998 and in 2008 earned a Masters degree in Spiritual Formation from Northwest Nazarene University. Dave and Ruth live in Oxford, Michigan and have been married for 27 years. Their daughter, Lindsay is married to Cody who is currently serving in Iraq. When he isn’t preaching or counseling, and the weather is right, you can look for him riding his Harley motorcycle.

The best is yet to come?

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It was the single dumbest sign I’ve ever seen. It was in my mother’s room. It said, “Grow old with me. The best is yet to come.”

My parents were old and it sucked.

Dementia was slowly and painfully killing my mother a millimeter at a time. My dad spent his days talking to her, taking care of her needs, and missing her.

They were married for 60 years. All those years ago, they vowed to stick together through better and worse, richer and poorer, for better and worse, and eventually until death.

That stupid sign sat on the dresser and I would always think, “This is these best?!” Stupid.

The other day I thought, maybe something here is the best. Maybe the best is realizing love can endure the horrors of aging. Or, that love is more than good times, health, and the rest of it.

Maybe the best that was yet to come is the reassurance that there is someone who will be by our side for better and worse, richer and poorer, in sickness and health…until death.

As I think about it, maybe the “best is yet to come” is the hopeful anticipation of heaven and rest. The hope of a place with no more crying, or mourning, or pain. The hope of a place where their tears are wiped away and all things are made new.

I can live with that. I might even start to like the sign.

Thank you mom and dad. You’ve given me courage to believe the best is yet to come.