A Weekend To Remember.

It started off on Friday when my best friend, Shih Tzu dog Sonny, went under the knife! The Vet took five of his teeth out. He had constant ear infections and couldn’t eat dry food so I had it done. He is sore, but not complaining much. He is 10 years old so he is not a young dog. I’ll admit I was worried about the anesthesia because I had another dog who didn’t awaken again during a spading operation. Isn’t it funny how a dog can become almost like a human to a dog-lover?

Then on Sunday afternoon my son, Ron, Took me and Sonny on a road trip up the Washington side of the gorge. Oh, was that beautiful! The greenery of the fir trees and the early gold of the meadows almost took my breath away. Then add the blue of the skies and the river and you have it all. I can’t forget the mountains, they were above me sometimes and below me other times depending on whether we were driving up or down. They were gorgeous in their green and brown dresses any way I looked at them.

My son said he was going to take me to the prettiest picnic table he had ever seen. I had seen many picnic tables and couldn’t see what would be so pretty about this one. But it was! It perched high on a rocky cliff with a mountain wall just across the river. The Columbia River was quiet today, I didn’t see the usual white caps and it looked small below me. Beacon Rock stood majestically just beside me where I could see where people could climb it. I had climbed it years before but as I looked at it yesterday I couldn’t believe I had ever done that! After we visited that picnic table, we started off for home.

It was a wonderful day, a blue sky and sunny day. I had seen the gorge many times before but I had never seen it like yesterday. Ron had hiked that area many times and knew just where to take me. He told me what everything looked like in Spring or Winter and about the wild life that is abundant in the Springtime. He gave me a gift I will always remember. How great is God who created all this! And how great a gift it was to be able to see this grandeur.

Retirement? From What?

I went to my son-in-law’s retirement party and his last service as a Lutheran Pastor on Sunday. It turned out that this was a life changing moment for me. I actually have a son-in law who has retired! Life truly is as the Bible says “like a blade of grass.” When I look back I see many good and sorrowful things, but all of these things have happened in a moment of time, or so it seems. And now I am old.

But retired? No, I am one who never retires. I have gone through three retirement dinners of which I was the honored guest. One was when I retired as a Mission worker at a church, One was when I retired as “Preacher Lady”after 21 years as leader of a ministry at a camp.The last on was when I retired as district representative for an insurance company. My last one will be when I enter Heaven. I believe that God gives us life and will one day take life and we are to work for him all during that one life, except when we are little children.

There is much talk today about “saving for our retirement”. I can see a retirement for a person who is too ill to continue working, but she or he doesn’t really retire, or at least shouldn’t because as ill as people are they can still pray. They can still smile at someone who needs a smile. Maybe they cannot continue working at a mill or a store but they can still work for God. He has promised he will never leave us or forsake us so we should never leave him or forsake him.

No, I will never retire. I am just finishing a book I have been working on for two years.It is almost ready to be published. I am starting another book geared to pre-teenagers although it might be slanted to a more general audience before I have completed it. Everyone should have an interest to work on when the company you are working for retires you. I am sure my son-in-law will get into something he is interested in before long. He isn’t the type to sit around, that’s for sure!

My wish for all of you is that you will continue working for God all your lives, whether it be in volunteering or working for hire because he has given you one life to live. Why not keep on working fr him?