School's Out for Summer . . . School's Out Forever!

Remember back to the euphoric days of school getting out for summer?

We don’t remember drifting into boredom, but sometimes our summer “freedom” didn’t quite match up to the hype and expectation after a few days. We traded classroom imprisonment with the yoke of a summer job or other responsibilities.

We hear similar reports from people retiring. Lots of hype and enchantment going in, but sometimes our enraptured stereotypes are not all they’re cracked up to be. Certainly, snapshots of retirement we see in TV commercials differ considerably from the reality of most people.

Our friend and ministry colleague John Coulombe from EV Free Church in Fullerton, California is deliberate about setting appointments with soon-to-be-retired individuals. He tells them to go have some fun and then to meet with him six months into retirement to talk about the rest of their lives.

He tells us most of these retirees call much sooner into retirement, asking to move their appointment to an earlier date. They are rested and restless.

Truth is, we’re not designed to live for extended periods of time without responsibility. What appears pretty inviting and life giving can end up becoming burdensome and unhealthy when overextended---especially when separated from active listening for the Lord’s continued guidance.

We're doing our best to help people catch a vision of what God may be calling them to in their later years of life.

We can’t answer that question with tons of specificity, but we know Scripture is full of wonderful stories of adults who acted with perseverance and courage---obediently loving God and people---until their last breath here on earth.

Your life stories and prayers are a huge part of our inspiration as we seek to equip and inspire others.