Scooters and Sages

When I was in college my friend Rocky Driver had a Honda motor scooter. It was red and gold and easy to drive and went 50 miles an hour. I went to school year around but Rocky did not, choosing instead to take a break from the demands of student life during the summer months. While he was away I was allowed to use the scooter as I needed it. I loved it. I loved everything about it…the speed, the fun, the wind blowing through my hair (that was long before helmets took that thrill away!)

So for years following that time I have wanted a motor scooter. However, raising a family never allowed for extra funds to provide such a luxury. And quite truthfully my family never seemed to take me seriously.

I get up early most mornings, like 4:00 AM and my sixtieth birthday was no exception. As I crossed the living room I noticed a beautifully wrapped box sitting on the table and when I did, there was a motorcycle helmet!

I was not expecting a motor cycle helmet and had never asked for one. But Beloved appeared grinning from ear to ear and pointed to the garage. AND THERE IT WAS! My lifelong dream! It was dark green and white and beautiful and it was MINE!

And so dressed in pajamas I donned helmet and drove my new scooter out into the dark! It was thrilling to say the least. I drove down the drive way, up through the side woods, around the back, through the fruit trees and up the hill back to the garage! And then again and again laughing hysterically all the way!

Two days later Eleanor rode it around our property. She hit a rock and ended up on the ground with scrapes and bruises. Then I took it on the city streets. A car, impatient with my forty miles an hour, whizzed by me at sixty and the wind nearly knocked me off the road. Days later I tried quiet lanes and there I hit asphalt and sand and the scooter knocked me over scrapping my arms and legs. It was Beloved’s turn and he suffered the same fate. And at that point we had to admit that which we had refused to do. We were getting OLDER. Our balance was not as sharp. The scooter had to go.

And so on October 24, 2007 I GAVE UP and a “For Sale” sign was posted and days later my scooter and dream were gone.

**************************************************************

Two months ago a group of women including Eleanor and Linda, Board member Robin Rosebrough along with our production guru Kelle Ortiz and speaker Michelle Helms met to discuss Big Dream’s next venture. We are concerned about women in America. We are concerned about young women in America. We are troubled by the lies they are buying into and the choices they are making that have life long consequences. And we want to help.

We have studied and observed and interviewed and surveyed and there is one thing we know. We think differently. We are OLDER.

The younger generation can be intimidating to say the least. They are technologically savvy. They have a confidence that often prohibits them from accepting advice. They do not see things such as home and marriage and family in the same light. And so we have struggled to figure out just what to teach and how to teach it in a way that could be received.

Recently we revisited a Biblical truth. Older women (that’s us) ARE suppose to teach the younger women out of their wisdom and knowledge of God and His Word. There it is. True direction in an often untrue world.

So we are older. And no, we do not think the same. But we have lived longer and in doing so have gained something of value. Wisdom. Trust. Love. All from Jesus Christ.

And so we are pressing on with renewed excitement. We do have a message and it has nothing to do with the generations because it transcends time. God’s Word is TRUE and we can teach with great confidence from that platform. How we do it will be fresh and exciting because we know the message and we know the Messenger.

Yes we are older and though our balance isn’t as great, our passion for Christ and the women He brings us has not changed. In fact it has only grown with each passing year. So we won’t give up. There will be no letting the dream go….but simply a cry to God to help us, show us, give us all we need to find a way to reach women with the life-giving message that God has for them.

Titus 2:3-5
Older women likewise ….encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands that the Word of God may not be dishonored.