Retirement - What's it like? - the first 6 months

“What are you going to do when you retire?” was the question I was repeatedly asked. And in the weeks before the official end-date, I was too busy with hand-over to think about it.Then the day arrived. What a great relief! God had helped me choose a good successor, because, despite a contract that allowed me to be paid for further hand-over assistance, it has seldom been needed.

Farewell tribute - not a real mag

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I had stepped down from the position of technical-manager at a Commercial radio station, which I had set up over a 2 to 3-year period. It had been stressful partly because I lived about 40km from the station, along a dangerous section of road, so an emergency call-out at any time was anticipated with dread! 

 

I made sure that I had a real break by agreeing to be part of a 2-week excursion to Ethiopia – a land of people, donkeys, waterfalls, mountains, ancient churches and amazing history. (We did a circular trip north from Addis Ababa, led by Tim & Ingrid Briscoe – Nile River Excursions.)

The start of the Blue Nile here at these magnificent falls.

 

 I had time to think about the days ahead. The wonderful thing about retirement is that there is time to do what is important…. to pass on skills and concepts that I have learned. There is also time for family, and there is time to read a bit more and to pray – to hear God’s heart about the world we live in.

Between the years 1997 and 2012, I had been self-employed, doing consulting work for a number of “clients”, mainly Reutech and the Association of Christian Broadcasters (ACB, now the Association of Christian Media – ACM).  So retirement is not much different. And that has been a danger for me … to succumb to the pressures of working life without the remuneration!

I set my priorities for the year ahead between the ACM and KNI Radio who’s Boards I serve on; more involvement at my local Church – Sarepta; family, and radio-broadcast training. Running through this is a

Paul's proprty

theme of mentoring younger leaders, and passing on skills. I will need to add to this list the oversight of building development on the next-door property belonging to my son, Paul, and some work at our family property in the Drakensberg. I have also managed to do a short course on Citizen Journalism - hence this blog!

 

Exploring Table Mountain with my son, Tim, and dogs!

I had heard these stories about men whose retirement made them so bored that they drove their wives scatty! Well, when I give Janet a hard time, I think it is because I’m trying to do too much!.

I am currently Chairman of the ACM, an association of nearly all Christian radio and TV stations, on-line sites, magazines and newspapers in Southern Africa, with a vision to communicate the Christian message – the Gospel, through media. This message is in essence not about religion, but about God taking the initiative to love us even though we don’t deserve it. It is by changing our priorities from self to God that we can see what God is doing, and fit in with his plans. Unfortunately, there is a lot of church culture and clutter that tends to camouflage the message. The ACM has a major conference in April, and that is currently a big priority for me.

I hope that I haven’t given the impression that I have got it all together. Balancing priorities is not easy, and I have been stressed at times. I find prayer is essential, and I have been reading a lot of books by and about some of the Christian heroes of the 1800’s – Charles Finney, George Muller, David Livingstone and others. Prayer is not about trying to persuade God to give us what we want, but it is mostly about us trying to find out what God wants. 

In conclusion I am challenged to spend more time on things that will give lasting results, and that often involves doing what may seem trivial! I am enjoying the experience. It has been a good six-months!