Retired, Reluctant and Rejoicing

Hi, Everyone, Here Charles ("Bud" to some of you) and I are in our new life of retirement in Somerville, Texas! We are standing in front of the Somerville Museum at a Veteran's Memorial Ceremony on March 3. On January 1, 2007, we began discovering what retirement meant. We found that retirement is a bit misleading. Webster's dictionary says "retirement" is "a withdrawing into seclusion; withdrawal from circulation; privacy". Charles and I did withdraw from active service of ministry in Dallas, Texas. There, at Cliff Temple Baptist Church, Charles served as the Minister of Music for 35 years, did regular hospital visitations and ministered to the heart needs of church members! I worked at David Clayton & Sons Funeral Home as Executive Administrator, sang in the choir, taught the "Every Woman" Sunday School class and participated with the "From The Father's Heart" prayer group at Cliff Temple Baptist Church. Our service of ministry was complete on Sunday, December 31, 2006! We moved from Duncanville, Texas in January, to Charles' hometown of Somerville, Texas, with the help of our dear friends from Cliff Temple and Elaine's mom, Dora McMahan, from Denver, Colorado. Retirement began....... As we began life in this new environment, we found that our minds were being challenged with the reality of what the sudden change from our stable time schedules and consistent requirements had been to absolutely no sense of time or calendar now meant. We would stare at each other, not knowing what to do next. Those of you who are retired will understand. Those of you who long for retirement will know the meaning of this one day. This was a freedom we had never experienced before. For the first few months we found that one minute we loved retirement, the next minute we did not know what to do with ourselves. We were reluctant to honestly answer anyone who asked,"Well, how is retirement?" because we had not figured it out yet. As the months have gone by, we have found that God has blessed us incredibly with retirement. We did not have to figure it out, He was going to show us. And show us, He has! We rejoice that we have the time and space to open our home to our family and friends. In the 6 months of our retirement we have hosted over 20 guests in our home to date which gave way to our naming our home - "The Lovell Lodge"! We rejoice that we have been able to participate in the renovations of the house, which are nearly completed, by being here as "hands on" home owners. We found this to be a necessity as well. What a story! We rejoice that we have wonderful neighbors on all sides of us. We rejoice that we have been recipients of wild life feeling free to take up residence in our attic. A family of possum had to be removed from their comfortable hiding place and then a wild kitten gave birth to 5 darling kittens there in the attic. The McKitten family; McMama, McBlondie, McGressive, McTigee, McTimid and McRunt are still with us, but not in the attic. They have taken up residence under the back porch and give Charles and me such joy watching their antics. The joy of it all is that loving a wild mother kitten beyond all odds has resulted in a tame, loving mother cat! We rejoice that Charles has been able to take on music ministries in area churches for music directors who need a Sunday away from their churches. Charles has enjoyed keeping the yard nicely mowed and manicured. He has even helped out one of our neighbors with their back lot. Every evening we take a drive to Lake Somerville, less than a mile from home, to watch the sunset and count the deer grazing in the fields. Oh, how grand retirement is! Charles makes it his duty to pick up the mail at the post office around 9:30 each morning. At that time, it seems as though the entire town of Somerville shows up and everyone catches up on the news of the town. Our porches are a delight as we sit rocking and watching life happen. Sometimes it is just the joy of feeling the evenings cool breeze and hearing the railroad trains pulling into town with their bells whistling! Even amid some of our reluctancy of retirement, we would have to say we are settling into the joy of this life and finding that it is quite nice. Oh, yes, I knew I needed the challenge and stimulation of life outside the walls of our home so I have accepted a position at the Citizens State Bank of Somerville. I will begin working full-time on July 23. One day we will share of how God has blessed us incredibly, in ways we never dreamed before!