Living Strong, Finishing Well by Dr. David Stoop

Author:Dr. David Stoop
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Self-Help;Middle-aged persons—Religious life;Older people—Religious life;Aging—Religious aspects—Christianity;SEL031000;REL012070
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2021-07-26T00:00:00+00:00

David Meets David

When I was in high school, I wasn’t interested in being obedient. I was interested in doing what I wanted to do. At least that was true during the week—on Sundays I would clean up my act, and often I would even play the organ in Sunday morning church. The rest of the week was up for grabs.

I started my high school days in the upper third of my class, and I finished my high school career in the bottom third of my class. And I always said that I had a lot of fun on the way down. I didn’t realize until later that there were consequences for my behavior. I couldn’t get into any of the colleges of my choice because my grades were so bad. I never let my children read my high school yearbook because my classmates described too many embarrassing things that I did.

But there was one thing that kept me from straying too far off course, and that was an old man (especially to a high school senior) in the church named David Engstrom. He would have been my grandfather’s age. For some reason, he took an interest in me. He said it was because both our names were David. I have never forgotten him or the impact he had on my growth and development as a man.

I don’t think we ever had profound, in-depth conversations. We never discussed complicated theological concepts. In fact, I don’t remember anything memorable from our conversations. He simply wanted to get to know me and show me that it was okay to just be me. He seemed to know there was a battle going on inside me between following God’s path for my life and going it on my own. He made me feel like I was a person worth knowing. This was pretty important for a mixed-up kid.

The summer after my graduation from high school, I was hanging out at our church’s summer camp. It was an amazing summer; even A. W. Tozer preached. But I don’t remember listening to his sermon. I was too busy arguing with myself. Do I go God’s way? Or do I turn my back on God and go my own way? I chose God’s way, and to this day, I believe that David Engstrom was the major factor in helping me make the right choice and persevere.

Persevering enables us to live strong so as to finish well.

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