In one's earlier days we come to expect changes. We start school, our body gets bigger, our baby teeth get replaced with permanent ones, we start high school, we learn how to drive, we go away to college, we get married, we start a job, we have children, etc. For me, I detailed a lot of these in my autobiography, My Life, which I published a few months ago.
But as one gets older, you might expect that the changes would stop - or at least slow down a little. But that has proven to not be the case.
It was just about 10 years ago, January 2005, that I had a heart attack. It was a massive one, and one that the survival rate is only 7%. One of the good things about it (besides my survival) was that I have become more aware of things around me. I'd like to note some of the changes in this past 10 years that have impacted me.
Ten years ago both my parents and my wife's parents were still alive and well. But in a span of less than six years all four of them passed on. Many of their siblings and spouses of those siblings have also passed on. We've also lost a couple of my cousins and three spouses of my wife's siblings. Besides that making me think about my own eventual passing, it has also meant that I no longer think of the "child" part of me, so there is more emphasis on the "spouse", "parent" and "grandparent" aspects of my life. When you can no longer talk to your parents, ask for occasional advice, get their perspective on things, that has an impact.
Ten years ago I was still employed. Besides my 8-5+ job, I was in my third decade of teaching computer science in the evenings, I was in my second decade of chairing the board of directors at Lehigh Valley Christian High School, and I had been an elder in our church for over two decades. My life was full of things that were not based at home. But I decided to stop teaching after 25 years, I stepped down from the board of directors after 18 years, and when the management style at work changed and there was no longer any "fun" in working I also decided to retire early at the age of only 58-1/2. A year ago I also decided to step aside as an active elder and let the "younger generation" take a turn at leadership. While that certainly removed a lot of the stress in my life (for those of you who haven't retired yet, you have that to look forward to), it also meant that I had to find more meaning in the home-centric, family-oriented, and volunteer parts of my life. That's a process that doesn't happen overnight. But now my life has a different kind of meaning.
Ten years ago our son had been married for four years and we were new grandparents with a three-month old grandson. Our daughter was not yet married, but was successfully working, although she had recently moved back home with us. Now both our children are married, we have seven grandchildren, and four of them (in addition to my daughter and son-in-law) live under our roof (but in a separate part of the house). My wife and I spend a great deal of our time helping to raise four grandsons (ages 4.5, 3, 1.5, and 6 months) when their parents are working. So family is certainly more time-consuming, but it is also a big focus in our lives. Major impact there!
Ten years ago my job provided not only an income but benefits that included health insurance, and we lived on less than I made so were saving and building up my 401K. Now I'm retired and living on a (mostly) fixed income, with social security, a company pension (thankfully I had been grandfathered into a defined benefit plan), and an annuity that I bought with part of my 401K providing our income. Our health insurance comes through Medicare, supplemented with a Medicare supplement plan from AARP. We're still doing fine financially, thanks to my long-term planning (the subject of a future blog), but we think about finances and health issues a bit differently than when it all came from a job and [mostly] regular pay increases.
Change is still going to happen. Our grandchildren now have (or will soon have) school, scouts, and other activities that will demand our attention. Our health will continue to change (it takes a bit longer to shovel the driveway these days), the various goings-on in Washington, DC, will have as yet unknown impacts on us in the future, etc. Things going on in other parts of the world will affect us in ways that we cannot predict.
But there is one thing that has not, and will not, change. That is God (with a capital G) and His love for us as evidenced in His son, Jesus Christ. So we will keep our eyes and our hearts focused on Him throughout all the earthly changes around us. And He will direct our footsteps in ways that will cause us to honor Him. Thanks be to God!
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