Friday, March 25, 2016

Retirement -- At Last!

by Cheryl Merrick

It is time to enjoy being together
when I’m not completely exhausted.
It is time for my husband to lighten my load
by helping with the cooking, laundry, and cleaning.
It is time to relax and read in the evenings

Time to talk, share, and plan together
Time to putter in the house, garage, and yard
Time to ride with him as he does errands
Time to get out of the house more
Time to have my husband’s help with home projects
It is time to do family history, serve a mission,
and devote time to the Lord’s kingdom.


It is time to quit trying to support our children
Time to quit spending most of our time and resources
trying to care for them, helping them get through school,
fixing up their homes, and helping them to be financially secure.
It is time to quit trying to provide
a home and job for single daughter,
an income for son’s family,
and investment profit for another daughter
or a home for aging parents.

We can’t help our children any longer
by dividing our limited income with them.
They are all grown adults, who do not want our help,
or appreciate our sacrifices in their behalf.
They need to be independent of us and we of them.
We each need to live our own lives.

We need to set a righteous example for them.
We will always love our children and grandchildren
and be there with encouragement and advice if they want it,
But they need to make their own decisions,
and take their own consequences for their actions.
We might need to provide a little work and food
to help our daughter get by with her part time minimum wage job,
and we will always have a home they can come to,
but we need to accept that this is all we can do.

We must now focus on providing security for our retirement years
We have the responsibility to prepare so we will not
become a future burden to our children.
We need time to work on our business together
and time to devote to our plans and needs.

We need to live a life where we are not pressured to meet others needs.
We need to take things at a comfortable pace
where we are no longer pushing ourselves to help others.
It is time to rest
It is time to retire– at last!





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