Marta has been very generous to us in all matters of the goats, from the ridiculously low price we paid for the first two bottle babies, to helping us navigate some of those early problems with medicine from her stock, to the "farm loan" of Sundae.
David and Marta own a rental property, a beautiful 5 acre lot about a mile from our house. They're rehabbing it between tenants, including putting in a pasture and barn so it can be horse property, and doing some work on the 4 bdrm, 2 bath house. The guy they've used in the past for some of that work has bumped up his prices so Marta asked me if we'd like to make "some pin money" (very few people have even heard that expression). Yes! We spent four hours over there Saturday, Pam washing windows while I painted the living room. This afternoon I went back and spent 3 hours painting one of the bedrooms and Tuesday I'll paint the laundry room. (The walls have a very deep texture making painting a tedious process.)
When it's all done I'll send her a bill. Pam and I talked about it and agreed it will be a very complete invoice with hours worked (2.75), price per hour (.36), minus the good neighbor discount of 10%, for a total of 32 cents.
Or I might do the math so that we end up owing her money.
At the bottom I'll say we'd be willing to waive our fee in exchange for stud service for Sundae and Stella when it's time to breed them.
We'll leave here about 6:15 tomorrow morning for the 35 minute drive to the b'fast joint in Harrisburg. Brett & Phares (pastor & wife) may meet us there and go on with us for the 10 minute drive to Halsey, just within the zone of totality. That assumes traffic isn't as bad as they're predicting, but we'll go back roads so I'm hoping both the up and back are easy enough. The eclipse begins here at 9:04 and ends about 11:30.
If the press is to be believed we won't be able to get out of our driveways for weeks.
A friend my age who also recently retired wrote a blog post last week about his adjustment to his change of life circumstances and the lack of a must-do at this time schedule. No need for an alarm clock, no meeting times to keep track of, no deadlines to meet.... He wrote that it took him some time but he's learned a new way of living, of being in the moment without concern for what must be done by a particular time. His new life is about being, not doing.
As I read that I thought how different my retirement has been. Mine is about doing, not being, just doing different things, activities not possible when I was a pastor. Never mind living in AZ, I could not have raised goats, had this kind of time for writing, had half an orchard of fruit trees, or (the best part) hang out with Pam as much as I do.
Which is not to say I feel like I've fallen into my "groove," settled into my niche.
For me that place is being a good steward in God's sight. At my age I'm pretty sure what skills and abilities he gave me, so the question is how I should be using them.
I have no regrets abut my decision re. Pathway; it was the right thing to do and done for the right reasons. The question is, what now?
So I've prayed a lot about it.
I've decided I will not go searching for opportunities to preach, teach, or whatever. I'm too suspicious of selfish motives, of ego getting in the way. So while it may strike some as too passive I've purposed to trust God to bring things my way. If opportunities show up I'll start with the presumption that God has sent them. Oh, some may be obviously ill suited to who I am and out of my wheelhouse, but if they seem to line up reasonably well, if I think I can do a credible job, I'll accept the opportunity.
That's why I went to MI to speak at that service, and told Nathan that if it works out at his end I'm willing to go to Thailand next year to participate in a seminar.
I got another request this morning, one for which I'm well suited, at least on paper, but makes me feel a bit awkward. Don't want to get specific 'cause I think it's a bit confidential at this point. Not sure, but I want to play it safe.
All of that to say unlike my friend I'm still sorting it out two years later. I don't want to be a slacker in his sight.
Sometimes life is hard to figure out.
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