Retired?

The other day my wife said, “It really bugs you when people ask you that question.” She was right. It’s a tough and uncomfortable question to answer; “So what are you doing now?” Many want to know.

This question was asked before my planned retirement date and and comes fast and furious a year later.

Sometimes it’s a friendly conversation starter. “So what have you been doing?”

Other times I feel like I need to justify my decision to retire. “What do you do all day?”

“How do you pass the time?” That one has notes of depression and meaninglessness.

A year into retirement, I feel guilty saying it’s been great. I haven’t been bored. I don’t miss my work (more on that later). And I’ve been plenty busy. Here’s a little recap of my first year into retirement.

• I have been writing. In addition to this blog, I wrote a set of Advent devotion in 2022, and then Lent devotions for the following spring. I thought I could monetize these, but only netted $18. Having gotten little feedback, I may not write more in the future.

• I’ve made four trips to Dallas to visit my son and his family, plus a week long fall color trip to Maggie Valley, NC.

• I redid all the landscaping in my front yard, painted the inside of the garage, rebuilt some of the backyard kids play fort, converted the front bedroom from a guest room to a music room/study.

• My wife and I watch some of the Florida grandchildren at least once a week.

• My church involvement has included a biweekly small group, and a weekly men’s ministry, as well as weekly worship. I also did a year of Zoom Bible Study Fellowship with men from around the world.

• I’ve read three books a month, often from the library. Most are detective/crime novels.

• I get to the gym three times a week (free membership) and easily get in 10,000 steps a day walking the dog(s), doing yard work, or other stuff around the house.

• I’ve been learning bluegrass guitar. I’m not quite ready for a jam, but I’m getting better at my pentatonic scales.

• I’ve been sorting through thousands of digital photos, deleting duplicates, sorting, and labeling the keeper. I’ve also been paging through hundreds of journals, constructing a time line of our lives. I’d forgotten places we’ve been and things we’ve done.

• My winter/spring garden yielded lots of cherry tomatoes and way too many jalapeño peppers.

• I’ve attended a whole bunch of the grandchildrens’ soccer, basketball, t-ball, baseball, and flag football games, plus a dance recital.

I certainly don’t feel like I’m “passing the time” until I cash in my chips. The fact that I don’t miss my work tells me two things. First, it was the right time to retire. Second, I was burnt out.

A number of pastors at the church where I’m now worshiping get a sixty day sabbatical every five years. What a difference that would have made. I rarely got more than two weeks off in a row, ever. Some of that is my fault. I should know better than to keep going on empty.

Don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed pastoral ministry. But I enjoy being out of that role, too. I enjoy just being me.