Road in Retirement

Challenges of Distance: Mobility My Road in Retirement has become a gigantic challenge of distance; with respect to mobility and friendships. First, wheels. I have been harping on Chris to get us an accessible van for weeks and finally, we actually saw one; like discovering bigfoot is real. It was a God thing: “Hey, maybe there is a dealership here in Central Wisconsin that sells these vans,” as we traveled back to North Dakota recently (Chris family visit). And sure enough, literally 30 minutes later we rolled my wheelchair (WC) into a showroom to learn about a possible future purchase. The market for vans with WC ramps is huge but disparate; because they are scattered across the country and sold by broker houses mostly. An accessible van allows my WC to glide through a sliding side door via a foldout ramp and proceed directly into the front passenger seat. We need this mobility more than ever to drive my road in retirement.  Challenges of Distance: Friendships Four decades ago, w...

The Above and Beyond Continues Last blog I detailed my latest road in retirement segment involving travel to San Diego and how God cared for us in the journey, above and beyond our prayers and expectations. Looking back now, I’m in awe of God’s hand and presence, like Israel’s cloud in the desert; ever evident and carefully assisting our preparations and travel with immense favor. Let me set the theme for this west coast excursion using thousand-year-old prose from King David:  By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, And by the breath of His mouth all their host. He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap. He lays up the deeps in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the LORD. Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. Psalm 33:6-8 The “Wrong” Hotel We landed in San Diego on March 16 and headed for Del Mar, about 25 miles north where we hoped to experience surfer life for the next five days. Chris is such a gracious loving man (remember he types the blo...

Prosperity Gospel  Early in my walk with God, I became well acquainted with what modern Christians call the “prosperity gospel.” That’s basically an interpretation of the Bible that says if anyone has enough faith, the right relationship with God, and the appropriate Bible teaching, they can expect a life of abundance, wealth, health, and plenty in all God’s blessings all the time. My faith in God today is not a prosperity gospel mindset, I was evicted from that genre of Christianity with a Parkinson’s Disease (PD) diagnosis. So, although Chris and I don’t believe that God is obliged to prosper us in all areas of our life just because we have some type of super faith or exulted knowledge, we do find in scripture encouragement to exercise faith in God for the “above and beyond.”  Above and Beyond Gospel What I mean by above and beyond comes from the scriptures. In a letter by the Apostle Paul to the church in Ephesus, he writes that God is able to do far more abundantly beyond ...

  Pressing On I am following a road in retirement, now joined by my husband, but I have to say that it's more like a chase. I love this verse that I memorized a long time ago while in college in Platteville, Wisconsin: "I have not obtained the ultimate prize yet [a new resurrected heavenly body], nor am I perfect, but I press on for the goal, for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:12)." I am pressing on and chasing a new life in heaven with Christ, but the process involves continuing what good mission, what good times with friends and family I can still experience here on earth. Chasing that upward prize is a worthy quest on my road and time is of the essence. The Chase I have been chasing a dream since I was a young girl to get out of the house, love my friends, get an education, and live a meaningful life. Falling in love with God, marrying Chris, having children, helping high school kids succeed, all became part of the "upward"...

Hagar Is Seen In the book of Genesis chapter 16 there’s an account of Abram's wife Sarai and her maid having a spat about childbearing. Sarai was promised a son for Abram by God but at this point in the story she was closing in on 90 and still childless. In her impatience she arranges for her much younger maid Hagar to have relations with Abraham and Hagar becomes pregnant. Sarai regrets that decision and starts treating Hagar harshly with disdain. In abject despair and fear, Hagar flees into the Mideast desert alone, afraid, pregnant and without hope; until. This is where you and I can get involved in the story because God is all knowing; and sees everything. An angel appears to Hagar, consoles her, tells her she will have a son named Ishmael, and he would be blessed greatly. But first she must return to Sarai and serve her respectfully. Hagar is amazed that “God sees.” Looking Ahead of Us In my struggle on this road in retirement with Parkinson’s, I must remind myself often that ...

The Withered Hand While teaching from the Old Testament in a synagogue in Galilee on the Sabbath, Jesus noticed a man with a withered hand. Jesus heals him (Luke 6:6). Maybe he had Parkinson’s? I say that tongue in cheek, but you never know, since Parkinson’s often leads to extreme stiffness, shriveled limbs, and rigidity in arms, hands, legs and even in the face (hypomimia). My arms/hands/fingers might have seemed “withered” in that era. Jesus heals this man in the presence of onlooking strict religious leaders of the day who were threatened by his ministry of compassion, love and good news of a saving heavenly father. These religious zealots were more interested in keeping the legal tenant of doing no work on the Sabbath; like healing someone. This was a common occurrence in Jesus’ three short ministry years: constant pestering, challenges, and trouble from rigid rule keepers. Although he was God, Jesus lived a human life and like us, and there were times he had to get out of the int...