After repeatedly doing something for twenty-five years, it’s hard to stop! That’s how I feel as I write this article. I’ll still write one once a month, but Justin will bear most of the responsibility. I have mixed emotions as I step away from full-time work. However, I know it is time to let a younger, more energetic man step up to the plate.
It’s hard to believe I’ve been here this long and yet it seems as if I started yesterday. You have welcomed Gail and me into your lives and made us a part of the Walter Hill family. We love and appreciate you more than words can ever express. There have been few rough spots along the way. In fact, there have been so few that I can’t even remember them.
I am thankful for the opportunity to continue serving in a part-time position. That’s where I have had so many mixed emotions. I never read about gospel preachers retiring in the New Testament. I think like old soldiers, we don’t die – we simply fade away! I hope to do just that at Walter Hill – very slowly! In the meantime, I’ll walk with each of you down life’s pathway as we strive for heaven.
I’m not ready to cite the apostle Paul’s valedictory address from 2 Timothy 4:6-8. However, we would all do well to heed the Lord’s guidance of Joshua 1:6-9 in a 21st century setting: “Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”