Sunday, August 2, 2009

My Parents Are Not Wasting Their Lives

I'm both excited by and saddened by my chance to write this post.

My parents are not wasting their lives. I'm thrilled to be able to say that.

Backing up a bit, a few years ago I read John Piper's Don't Waste Your Life. It had a profound effect on me. Piper challenged some of my assumptions about life in general and retirement in particular. He spends much time in this book challenging retirees about why they waste many years toward the ends of their lives by just playing around.

Fast forward to today. Later this month, my parents (who will both be 70 soon) will travel to Kenya for a year. They will be teaching at Rift Valley Academy, which is a private, Christian boarding school primarily for missionary kids. My father will be teaching French and Spanish, while my mother will be teaching some science and p.e.

My parents could have done the easy thing and remained here in Savannah, GA. Quite frankly, this is a great place to live (and retire). I'm happy to say that they are not doing that. They will have an opportunity to be positive influences in the lives of many children for the next year.

I would appreciate your prayer for my parents. Their names are Victor and Charlotte Carpenter. To see their blog about their time in Kenya, click here.

5 comments:

Vic and Charlotte Carpenter said...

Thanks, Eric, I'm glad you feel that way.

It's exciting to see what God has planned for us this year in Kenya.

The hardest part is leaving our kids and grandkids!

We do depend on your prayers.

Love,
Mom

Writer said...

Eric,

What a godly family! Thanks for sharing.

Les

Eric said...

Les,

I hope it is OK that I am proud of them. I only wish I could go as well.

Dusty Chris said...

Wow. That is awesome. I am in awe of people who are willing to serve in any way they can.

Eric said...

Dusty Chris,

I'm very excited about it. It is nice to see senior citizens who are willing to risk something for the Lord.