Nearing Home

“All my life I was taught how to die as a Christian, but no one ever taught me how I ought to live in the years before I die. I wish they had because I am an old man now, and believe me, it’s not easy.”

As I read through the lines, I was almost overwhelmed with emotion. It is not easy to put pen to paper to describe the feelings that I had for him as I read Nearing Home: Life, Faith and Finishing Well by Billy Graham, twentieth century’s most famous preacher, often called “God’s Ambassador”.

In a touching narrative of his life as well as his personal experience of growing older, Billy Graham moves the reader to a point beyond description. Now in his 90s, he writes, “Growing old has been the greatest surprise of my life. I would have never guessed what God had in store for me, and I know that as I am nearing home, He will not forsake me the last mile of the way.”

Billy Graham is candid enough to admit that “old age is not for sissies” and he has made an effort to explore the challenges of aging from a personal and scriptural perspectives. The wisdoms and insights shared by Graham are likely to open the flood-gates to renewed interests in the subject of aging and care-giving.

Drawing lessons from the Bible and his own personal experiences, Graham says that old age may have its limitations and challenges, but in spite of them the sunset years can be some of the most rewarding and fulfilling period of a person’s life.

Fully aware that many older folks are dragging their lives without any hope of a better tomorrow, Billy Graham calls on all to await with great expectations the greatest triumph that is to come: experiencing victory over death that will usher all believers into the eternal presence of Lord Jesus Christ.

Nearing Home is not only a personal memoir, but also a book that teaches believers how to deal and cope with life in the latter years. There is so much to learn from this book as Billy Graham continues to teach and preach through each and every page – which will be a bit of a disappointment for many who would love to read more about him and not the message. But you can’t stop the man who has delivered the Gospel message to more people face-to-face than anyone in history, and who has ministered on every continent of the world in more than 185 countries, from preaching and teaching even in his sunset years.

Disclosure: The publisher has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book through BookSneeze®

Helping to cry

Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once told of a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child.

The winner was a four-year-old child whose next-door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man crying, the little boy went into the old gentleman’s yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there.

When his mother asked him what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, “Nothing, I just helped him cry.”