Time Off

I just spent a wonderful weekend with some really good friends at a house at Lake Junaluska. Quite a mix of people and life stories and walks with Christ.

We always have a great time talking and laughing and catching up on everything that is happening in everyone's life. Everyone was either congratulatory or jealous of my retirement. I am excited about what the future holds.

One thing one of the ladies told me over and over is to not get myself over committed in the volunteering area. I
could seem to make her understand that I will do what God leads me to do. If that is one day a week, I will volunteer one day a week. If that is 5 days a week, I will volunteer 5 days a week. But I don't plan to commit too fast to too much so I can give God time to direct me.

I am planning to take the next week off as a vacation week - a time to just relax and refresh and do a lot of thinking about God and where He wants me to go and what He wants me to do. I am NOT planning to do lots of yard work or closet cleaning or other household chores during this time. I AM planning to do a lot of Bible study and book reading and exercising (we ate soooo much food this weekend!).

Retirement (meaning a life spent doing only what I want to do or doing nothing at all) is not a biblical concept. Just because I will no longer be someone's paid employee, I am not giving up on using the gifts God has given me. I must continue to serve and work and touch lives wherever He leads me.

As a paid employee I did what was required by the job I had and spoke Jesus into the lives of my coworkers as often as I could. As a retiree I will be free to pursue interests that God has put on my heart and still use the abilities He has given me and hopefully will speak Jesus into a lot more lives without the restraints of "work".