July 1st was my official retirement date from full-time ministry. I've been blessed with so many memories and precious moments I'd have to write a book to document them all. I've met so many people whom I have consider good friends. 34 years in full time ministry - yeah, it was an amazing journey.
But the journey has changed dramatically.
So quickly - it seems - I have been launched into the long and winding road of retirement. I have always felt confident about today and - quite frankly - about what tomorrow may hold. Retirement hasn't really altered those thoughts, but the transition feels different. I am still adjusting to this different pace I've been experiencing since July 1st.
Honestly, it doesn't feel like retirement because I am serving as a part-time pastor for the Kenyon United Methodist Church (meeting some very nice people in that church). I lead worship on Sundays and try to visit the community one day during the week. I also work about seven to nine days a month as a chaplain at the Mayo Hospital in Rochester (St. Mary's and Methodist), a fabulous location to continue to learn and be helpful to others in need.
Don't get me wrong... after ten months of anticipating retirement, I have been reunited with my beloved of fifty years (we celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary in August). Nancy has done a terrific job of decorating and preparing our new home since last October - and I love the fact that we are first-time homeowners. I am thrilled with the realization that I live in the same town was one of my children and her family. I am also closer to my other daughter's family. I anticipate with a quickened heart the ability to travel to visit my son and his family who live in Florida (it hasn't happened yet, but I'm working on it). I have a great deal to be grateful for and I do have a thankful heart. God has been so good to us.
We've been working on the home we moved into this past year... replaced the carpeting with laminate flooring, installing a new bookshelf in my office area, a sewing center for Nancy. And a host of things that a new homeowner has to deal with - my new favorite place to shop is Home Depot. Even the greeter knows me by name.
"So, what's your problem?" - you might ask.
It's the adjustment. I remind myself that I've been in a community for 34 years... people whom you have walked with in faith, laughed with them, cried with them, been in service with them, challenged them, learned from them. I served in Worthington for eleven years - Emmanuel Church and Adrian for seven. I have come to realize how much I appreciated their friendship, their guidance, their faithfulness, their personalities, and their kindness and love. And truthfully, I miss all of that. I have yet to replicate those kinds of relationships. Like I said, it is an adjustment.
The other thing that has happened is one that I could not have expected. I've done more doctoring since retirement in June than I have at any time in the past. Just little things... edema in my leg, cataract in my left eye, colonoscopy, echocardiogram, diagnosed with sleep apnea, and an ultrasound on my leg. I think I'm okay, but it's just been a pretty thorough checklist to make sure that I am okay.
Welcome to the long and winding road of retirement, Daren.
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