4/25/22 - iRetire4Him Show 60: A Fruitful Retirement, Part 2

Intro: While retirement is generally seen as a time of relaxation and self-focus God calls us to love, serve and help others for a lifetime. He has been preparing us for this retirement season, literally our entire lives. In retirement, countless Christians enter a state of spiritual dormancy, not knowing how they are called to have an impact for God's kingdom.

The Retirement Reformation seeks to encourage and empower the 50 million Christians approaching or in retirement to embrace the. God has been preparing in them when the world says it's time to stop, you can begin to have your greatest impact. Welcome to iRetire4Him. The mouthpiece of the Retirement Reformation, where our goal is to journey from retirement to reformation, so you can say, iRetire4Him.

Jim: Reaching out to the 50 million Christ followers in America who are fast approaching retirement or already in retirement. You've tuned in to iRetire4Him, the mouthpiece of the Retirement Reformation. I'm your host, Jim Brangenberg, along with the founder of the Retirement Reformation, Bruce Bruinsma, check us out online on our app in the app store, download Retirement Reformation in the apple podcast or in the apple app store or online on Facebook, Retirement Reformation on our website, RetirementReformation.org.

Christians are called to ministry for a lifetime. Impacting and changing lives is more than a priority; it's God's mandate to all of us, but what does that look like in retirement? The common call for all believers to minister, while impacting others and help to change lives, no matter where we are in life, then there's our unique goal, which is based on our unique set of gifts, talents, and abilities.

But how does all that play out in our retirement? Retirement is not only the reward for past service, with a little less stress, but also a stepping stone, a launching pad for future ministry, future fully funded ministry. As Bruce Bruinsma says - the founder of the Retirement Reformation just released his latest book in the future funded ministry series.

Book number four, A Fruitful Retirement is what it's called the result of a future funded ministry. Bruce joins us today for part two of a four part series, talking about how your retirement years can be A Fruitful Retirement. Bruce Bruinsma, welcome back to iRetire4Him.

Bruce: Thanks, Jim. Good to be here. And I remember when when you think about fruit, you think about what? If you're in a field of fruit, let's say it's a apple orchard. What you have to do is to, to really appreciate it. Enjoy. And to experience it. You got to go pick an apple, you got to take some action. And so being fruitful, isn't looking inward, it's reaching outward.

Jim: And I think it's taken that example even further, Bruce, if you're in an orchard or of any type, an apple orchard, an orange orchard, a grape vine orchard, whatever they call those. Sorry! They take decades to be fruitful to be really fruitful. And there's a lot of pruning involved and there's, and by the time the apple trees and orange trees are really fruitful.

And by the time grapevines are really fruitful, they're gnarly and they, they they're, they've seen some weather and they've seen some challenge and that's when they give you their best fruit. And that's really the great example of A Fruitful Retirement. These are the best years of our life. Aren't they Bruce?

Bruce: They are. And the you can take that example and continue to expand it. I think our audience will connect with that. And so just because you're going downhill somewhat physically or somewhat mentally does not mean that you're closer walk with God, your emotional growth that you have and maturity that you have in your understanding of, of life in its flow and process can more than outweigh any of those physical issues that you have to be able to bring you that meaning and purpose as you apply that and connect with others.

Jim: Yeah, Bruce, and in my book, iRetire4Him I said, this: listen as a retired person or chronologically superior person, and maybe you're not old enough to run the place anymore, but you're perfect age to be a coach.

And you could always, there's always time whether your legs work or your arms work or no. If your mind is working, you can pour your life into somebody else. Bruce, in chapter three of, of fruitful retirement, you say that a quarter or more of Americans who retire will go back to work. Why? Why is that?

Bruce: It's interesting. We're learning a lot about that for a while. For, for a long time, we really thought that the reason they went back to work was because. They haven't planned well enough financially. They had to go back in order to earn money. That was the common understanding. And while in some cases, that is absolutely true.

Or finding that in an increasingly large number of places that, that in fact, your work, where you worked or the work that you do is where your ministry takes place. Where are your relationships continue to flourish, where your opportunity to be encouraged and to work with others as part of a team that really is important to you happens.

And so we're seeing more and more people that are, that are going back to work because it's the environment where they feel the most fulfilled. All I can say to that is hooray and, and, and if that is the case, then go for it. The lack of... it's a wonderful time for people to consider that because there's jobs available everywhere of all different kinds.

Jim: All over the country.

Bruce: In every area it's impacted by that. So it's a wonderful time that if in fact that, you know, maybe, maybe it's three days a week, maybe it's two days a week, whatever it may be, that if in fact that's an area where. You can both minister, in other words, impact others' lives as well as be fulfilled yourself, nothing wrong with that.

Jim: Since most people retire because their work takes away their time and their energy and their freedom. How can people find work in their retirement years that builds in time and increases energy and lets them still feel the freedom while fulfilling their unique calling? Or how does that happen? How can they get that?

Bruce: No, it's interesting. It's an interesting human phenomenon, but when you let go, instead of losing control, you gain control.

And so when you have freedom to be able to respond to opportunities and needs, that freedom is, is priceless. Now if we go back and the way I read my Bible, it says we are always going to work. Work means putting out effort. So we're going to always be putting out effort. It's never going to be a time when we don't put out effort.

The question is, what are you, why are you putting out the effort? What are you putting out the effort for? And what is the result of the effort? If it is to lower your golf score, you're going to work hard. You're sweating. When you're coming off the 18th hole, you worked. You put effort and intentionality into what you're doing, that's leisure and that has value. But now can we find meaning because we're all going to work one way or another.

Jim: You know it's really important for us when we talk about the word work. When you look at the word work in Hebrew, which is written throughout the old Testament, isn't the word for work is also the same for worship and is also the same for service because God intended our work to be worship.

No matter what that work is. And when we look at it that way, all of a sudden things, that's a paradigm shifter. When you start to really look at that and I, my Hebrew's not great. I had somebody else tell me that and I studied it. But when you realize that, that the very essence of our work, which God gave to us before sin entered the world, it was all about worshiping him, bring glory, bringing glory to our heavenly father through our work.

I think that's a fantastic. First, one last question in this segment. You mentioned in A Fruitful Retirement, you say no two retirements are the same. Why, why is that important to understand?

Bruce: It's important to understand that. In fact, when we are looking for models to, to help us to understand what this retirement is all about, to realize that God made each one of us unique and special, each one of us is unique.

Therefore, ours are his plan for. The DNA that we're born with, the experiences that we have and the attitude to which we bring to these next stages are all going to be unique and different. And so it's when you are reaching out and impacting someone else's life, there may be the category of people that you can really relate to, and the help may be different than those of your spots.

And so to realize what's true, is that that's okay because we are all each unique, although created in God's image. Yeah.

Jim: One size does not fit all. And just because it's working for Bob to go down to work at home Depot doesn't mean it's for you. Maybe that you got to go work at five guys, which, you know, the food is pretty good.

Hi, you're listening to, iRetire4Him. The mouthpiece for the Retirement Reformation. We'd love for you to check us out. Online retirementreformation.org. Go to our resources. Look up books and get yourself a copy of, a fruitful retirement. Of course you can also get it on Amazon. We'll be right back with the conversation with author Sharon Mondragon and about her book, The Unlikely Yarn of the Dragon Lady.

We'll be right back. Hang on.

Break: Hey listeners. We would love for you to get a copy of Bruce's latest book, A Fruitful Retirement. Head out to retirementreformation.org/books. You will find all of the books in the future funded ministry series there, including A Fruitful Retirement, retirementreformation.org/books. That's retirementreformation.org/books.

Jim: Hey, welcome back to iRetire4Him. Every second segment, we always bring on a special guest to share a little bit of this. And this week I'm invited another author, an author, Sherry Mondragon. She wrote this book, The Unlikely Yarn of the Dragon Lady.

And you're like, Jim, we have a novel that we're going to highlight during the second segment? Hang on. You'll see why. Sherry welcome to iRetire4Him.

Sharon Mondragon: Well, thank you for having me. I'm delighted to be here.

Jim: So, so grateful to have you on. I loved your book, The Unlikely Yarn of the Dragon Lady. Why did you write this specific novel about a bunch of mostly retired ladies being kicked out of their comfort zone? Is there something personal in here?

Sharon Mondragon: The very first prayer shawl group that I belonged to was meeting in public, when this group of women went to the pastor and said, we'd really love to have a prayer shawl ministry. The pastor said, well, sure, you can do that, but you can't meet at the church. I want you to do your knitting in public.

And so that was my first experience. But. Also, I began to wonder: the women that I knitted with went willingly. They were happy to meet in public, but what if there was a group of women, women who weren't happy about the idea of what might happen?

Jim: Well, and you wrote an entire book about it. This is great. You use the pastor of a local church - a local church that was failing as a local church. It was struggling - to kick the knitting group out of the chapel. Use the excuse of, Hey, the chapel is going to go through some renovations. Why do you think it's so important that even a knitting group needs to get out of the church? Why did your pastor say not here? Take it out of here?

Sharon Mondragon: Well, I think that it's our pastor's job to challenge us, to take it out of here. At the end of every service that I go to, he says, go in peace to love and serve the Lord. So we are supposed to go out there and he is the one who supposed to commission us, nudge us, kick us to do it.

Jim: So when your knitters got kicked out of the chapel and the pastor said, go, go be out in the public. They started knitting in public at a coffee shop. What did they learn? What did they learn about themselves?

Sharon Mondragon: Well, they had thought that they were fairly invisible, especially when women get to a certain age, we tend to feel that way. But their very first time out a college student who was studying at the coffee shop, came over and wanted to know what they were doing.

And when she found out that they were praying, she asked them to pray about her anatomy test. People noticed when they sat there knitting. They weren't invisible.

Jim: Mm. So powerful. But then they got kicked out of the coffee shop and they decided just to go into the sitting area at the mall. What further transformation did they realize when they got out in public?

Sharon Mondragon: Well, they became visible to even more people. And to a very different demographic than what they had been involved with before, simply a church. The retail workers caught wind of the fact that, that they would pray for people that the college students spread the word because she passed her anatomy test and they would come every Wednesday morning to the sitting area.

And there would be a stack of paper napkins with prior requests. And they became aware of the needs of the young people who worked at the mall, the college students, the young people trying to make ends meet the young people, just trying to, to survive their jobs in retail. They got to know a whole different group of people.

Jim: And they saw the value they were to that community. That, I mean, they really saw it, it transformed those lives. And I love the fact that they're like, what are all these napkins on the table? Oh, my word they're prayer requests. It's so fantastic. Now the dragon lady in your story is a woman named Margaret.

She's kind of the overbearing annoying lady at church who's always causing trouble. And she was the leader of this knitting group self-imposed leader of this knitting. What did she learn about herself as she got kicked out of her comfort zone?

Sharon Mondragon: She learned that she wasn't as in control as she thought she was. And through the situations and the people that the group met at the mall, she became increasingly confronted with the root cause of her need to control. And she learned that God wanted her to do it a different way.

Jim: Hmm. And she did it. I mean, she was a retired quote, unquote, a retired lady. And she was a little stuck in her in her ways to say. I mean, if you know, Saturday night live and the church lady honestly describes Margaret inside your book pretty well. But she, she had a transformation, didn't she?

Sharon Mondragon: Yes, she did.

Jim: I know you don't want to give it away, but I want to give it away. I mean, this is fantastic. You need to read this story in order to understand the power of God in our lives when you get kicked out of our comfort zone. Sherri. So many of our listeners have relegated themselves in retirement to hanging out with people who look just like them and are in the same time of life, speak some encouragement to them.

What you learned yourself as your knitting community got kicked out of their comfort zone as well? What did our knitters learn about themselves and their value to the community and speak that same encouragement to our listeners today?

Sharon Mondragon: Well, I originally had written this because I felt like people of my age still have something to give, but it's not just that. It's not that we still have something to give it's that we have more to give than at any other time in our lives. We have love and compassion and wisdom that's been tempered and forged in the fires of life. We have time to listen, to offer friendship, to pray, to care to people of all ages. And we have a steadiness that has come because we've been through so much and God has been faithful.

Over the years, it's a calm and a steadiness that this world that's increasingly anxious needs. Especially the young people. I see far more anxiety in young people than I ever remember experiencing myself. But I also know that when I was the middle-aged mother of a couple of troubled teens, it was the Denisons of the early service at St. Christopher's church in Killeen, Texas, who took me under their wing, who listened, who prayed, who didn't bat an eyelash what I told them, my wild tales of parenting these boys. And they gave me courage to make the decisions that had to be made in order for the right things to happen. And I will be forever grateful to those people.

Jim: Shout out to the Denisons. Sherry, where can people get a copy of your book, The Unlikely Yarn fo the Dragon Lady? Where can they get a copy?

Sharon Mondragon: Well, it's available on Amazon, Barnes and noble, Christianbook.com. It comes in three forms, paperback, Kindle, and the audio book. The audio book is fantastic.

Jim: Do you read it or do you get a whole bunch of your kids to read it?

Sharon Mondragon: Oh, no, I didn't, I didn't read it. No,the incomparable christine Moore was the narrator for that and she did a fabulous job. There's chapter 23. I can't read it without crying, no matter how many times I've read it. So I was very glad to have a professional do it.

Jim: Sherry, it was so great to share your book. I enjoyed it thoroughly and I loved the life lesson that we just need. We need as older chronologically superior folks, we need to get out in the public. The young people desperately need access to us and yeah, they can learn knitting, but if they can learn knitting and prayer at the same time and some other practical stuff is so powerful. Thanks for sharing your book. And thanks for being on iRetire4Him today.

Sharon Mondragon: Thank you so much for having me. It was a joy.

Jim: I really appreciate it. We'll be right back with more on iRetire4Him.

Break: Hey. We would love for you to get a copy of Bruce's latest book, A Fruitful Retirement, head out to retirementreformation.org/books. You will find all of the books in the future funded ministry series there, including A Fruitful Retirement. Retirementreformation.org/books. That's retirementreformation.org/books.

Jim: Hey, welcome back to iRetire4Himm, the mouthpiece of the Retirement Reformation, Bruce, we're talking about your book and the conversation about your book, A Fruitful Retirement, your, your latest one for us over the years. You've asked people, what do you want to do in retirement?

What's the one word answer that you get all the time?

Bruce: Here's the answer, Jim. Are you ready for the word? Nothing.

Jim: Nothing. All right. But since nothing's simply isn't enough to make life meaningful and fulfilling, what should retirees do?

Bruce: Something other than nothing.

Jim: Because nothing leads to where?

Bruce: Nowhere. Isn't that the way it works? But listen to this for just a minute. I think it's important. And we see in scripture where it says. Without, without Christ, I can do nothing. Now, just reverse that if I'm doing nothing that would suggest that my connectivity to Christ is marginal at best. And so when we think about retirement, what Christ has in mind for us, what God has in mind for us, not only to follow his principles in a universal way to love your neighbor and to spread the word, but to be able to bring your unique talents to needs that exist in the world and to be able to impact people's lives in, in, in each one of the different stages of retirement. And there are three of them to be able to do that. And so that idea of, of being satisfied with nothing leads to nowhere.

Jim: I mean, and look where it leads. I've lived in Florida for 20 years. I've lived in the retirement capital of the world and I see what happens when people live for nothing. They literally die. They have no purpose. Th they're bored. They move into neighborhoods where there's, you know, 55 pluses, no children allowed, no kids allowed. All right. They can only have little yepper dogs can't have big dogs, all kinds of rules, regulations.

You don't even get to mow your own cotton picking lawn or trim your own trees. You can't park outside. You can't wash your own car. I mean it's and they have no purpose. It's what they do. They watch TV all day long and they get bored to death. And that's not what God intended, is it Bruce?

Let's examine what happens in that kind of circumstance and lots of others is that. And because of longevity our world, if we allow it, our world continue to shrink and as our world continues to shrink, we focus on who ourselves. And as we focus on ourselves, that then becomes a downward spiral. Because there is no meaning and purpose.

There's only problems, pain and grouchiness. And so the critical element is to turn from things that look inward to activities that take us outward, where there are people. Now it's true that, you know, I was at a funeral on Saturday and I'm sure I'm going to a whole bunch more here in the next period of time.

So our world shrinks 'cause our friends die. That happens over a period of time. That's what's true. And so you need to be intentional about not replacing those friends, but finding new ones where in fact you're who you are, can be meaningful too and with them.

Bruce, when you see people pursue something and retirement pursue a life of adventure, whatever that adventure, just something more than nothing, use one word to describe their lives.

Bruce: Oh, fruitful.

Jim: I love it. Bruce, you're 81 years old. And you are the king of having purpose in your retirement years. I don't know anybody that has more purpose in the retirement years than you. Do ever think you'll learn to enjoy rest and relaxation and a little leisure here and there?

Well, one of the things I've learned is that I need, I need a little more sleep. So I go to bed a little bit earlier. And there is that there are some times when I think about the honey-dos around the house and I really need to get those done. And I say, yes, I do. But I think maybe tomorrow it will be okay if I really do it tomorrow.

So I give myself permission to be able to adapt and adjust. And, and to provide enough bandwidth so that in fact I'm healthy. I'm healthy in my relationships. I'm as healthy as I can be in my body. I'm healthy in my spiritual relationships. And so to give enough space to do that, and sometimes that means going on a cruise.

Sometimes that means like Judy and I are going to the Netherlands. 10 days on a special, very specialized tour. And we'll be exhausted when we're done, but it's going to be great to be able to make that change.

And that's, what's really been good for you though, is having Judy who is fully retired, quote unquote, right now, she's no longer working for a paycheck. She's very busy. I know, but she said honey I'd like to spend some time with you. Can we go do some fun things? And you've had to schedule in those fun things, so you don't get caught up in working and it's good to listen to your spouse.

Bruce: Absolutely. It's critical to listen and to intentionally say to yourself, you know, it's important that Judy and I spend time together. And so that I intentionally then, you know, it's important to her that I get home by six o'clock at night just left to me. It probably would never happen, but I've committed that it's important to her. It's important to our relationship. So I got to make sure that if I'm at the office and I'm out of here by five 30, so I can be home by 6.

And to be able to make commitments that will intentionally enhance in, in maintain your, your relationship. And so it's not something that just comes just because you woke up in the morning, that intentionality is really important.

Jim: Bruce, how can the Retirement Reformation help our listeners, our friends listening today, get them on a path towards a fruitful retirement?

Bruce: First of all to as long as they're listening, so they've got some interest in the subject. Secondly, take a book like yours or take a book like any one of the three books in the series that I've written or start with A Fruitful Retirement. Cause it will encourage you. It will encourage you. We'll give you some models that will give you some ideas about what to do.

So many people, they say, well, I'd like to do something more. I just don't know what to do. Well, let's find the beginnings of a path, my grandfather's words. And you've heard me use it before is once begun, is half done. And so let's agree that we are going to begin and then listening to the holy spirit, the opportunities that come. And understanding our own experience and what we're capable of doing to be able to begin to step into a new world,

Jim: A fruitful retirement, Bruce Bruinsma, great conversation today. Thanks for your book, a Fruitful Retirement. Listeners, you can get a copy on Amazon or on our website, RetirementReformation.org.

Thank you. You've been listening to, iRetire4Him, the mouthpiece for the Retirement Reformation, with your host, Jim Brangenberg. And of course the founder of the Retirement Reformation, Bruce Bruinsma. We're Christ followers, journeying from retirement to reformation. So we can ultimately say iRetire4Him!

Outro: Thanks for listening to iRetire4Him, with your host at, Jim and Martha Brangenberg and Retirement Reformation founder, Bruce Bruinsma. IRetire4Him is the mouthpiece of the Retirement Reformation. Most Christians tend to follow the world's pattern of rest and self pampering during retirement.

However, in your retirement, you can be focused on God's unique call to. Serve and help others. This can be your best season of life. If you take advantage of a life's worth of knowledge and experience and combine it with a greater freedom of time and money and invest it all in the generations, both preceding and following you, the Retirement Reformation is encouraging Christians to find and follow God's call in all seasons and aspects of life.

Especially in retirement. Take time to sign the manifesto at retirementreformation.org and explore the wealth of resources available on our site. Join this movement of God and journey from retirement to reformation. So you can say, iRetire4Him. Go to retirement, reformation dot O R G.