People Keep Asking About Retirement

It amazes me how many times people have asked if we’re moving to Florida to retire. Now, I know, that is the logical question given that much of the Florida population is retired folks.

So, I have to ask. Do we really look that old??  Mid 50s isn’t old, at least not in my book.

But considering retirement in general, I don’t think we will ever retire. For several reasons. The first is that we chose to live our entire married life on one primary income. I’ve stayed home with my children for 30+ years. It’s been a sacrifice in many ways but one I would make again without hesitation. No, we didn’t have all the luxuries that a dual-income would have provided but we gained so much in other ways.  God provided just what we needed in every circumstance but we don’t have a huge retirement account to just allow us to relax by the pool.

The second reason we probably won’t retire in the broadest sense of the word, is that we have seen too many people who “retire” and then lose their sense of purpose.  Certainly you can retire from your career and still chose to find meaningful things to do, but there is a danger in thinking of retirement as the end of your usefulness. Not true at all.

I was actually wondering about what this next season of life was going to look like for me. After having 2 boys leave home this summer and knowing Alex only has 2 more years of homeschooling, I was trying to figure out what was next. After homeschooling for 26 years, what would my life look like? How would I adjust to being home alone all day when Randy was at work? What would I DO with myself??

Not to worry. God had it all planned out! While my youngest is almost done with his education with me, there are 6 little treasures in Florida who are at the beginning of their homeschooling journey. God knew I wasn’t going to retire from teaching. He is allowing me to do what I had hoped my own mother would do when we began homeschooling.  Our decision to homeschool came in the middle of my mom’s battle with cancer. A battle she lost in January of our first year. I had envisioned her being there alongside me, helping me with projects, going on fieldtrip adventures, finding great books and reading to the boys. It wasn’t meant to be. But now, I have been given the gift of doing for Christine and my grandchildren what Mom would have done for me.  I will be helping to instill a love for learning in the next generation of my family. You can’t imagine what a privilege that is for me.

And Randy thought he was going to be putting his energy into his own business again and God had other plans for him as well. He will be doing something unexpected and very different than what he’s been doing for the past 10 years.

So, no, we aren’t retiring. Not by a longshot. And while we can find may reasons, the biggest one is God’s promise for our future.

Psalm 92: 12-15

The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree, He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

Planted in the house of the LORD,They will flourish in the courts of our God.

They will still yield fruit in old age;They shall be full of sap and very green,

To declare that the LORD is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.

Since we aren’t OLD yet, we have plenty of time to see what God has in store for us. The future awaits us and it’s going to be good!