go somewhere for a change

 With so many of my friends facing retirement, and finding they have no plans for it, they suddenly go into a panic mode, “where will the money come from?  How am I going to live?”  And so begin to sell things off, maybe even things they love like their motorcycles, and move out of state.  Pay cash, no overhead, and then get old fast.  No old friends around, or familiar surroundings.  No guys to meet Saturday morning for a ride, no motorcycle to do it on.  The house is new and needs nothing, they sit safe and secure in the knowledge should something happen they are well off.  But don’t realize that the something has already happened, and that the life and lifestyle, friends and the rides they took, all they counted as life before, and were looking forward to at retirement, have been sacrificed in the name of security.  They no longer live, but inside just wait around to die wasting away, with no hopes, dreams, or ambitions.  Don’t think it could happen to you, to my friends they never thought it would happen to them.  So busy and productive in life, they now have flip flopped and have become useless.  They used to go somewhere for a change, now they have changed and need to go somewhere.  They have the time, the money, but not the means, the bike and the ambition are gone.  By sitting idle, they have given up their resources, and slipped into ruin.  They couldn’t wait to retire, now they find it is not all they dreamed it would be.  They talk more of the good old days, not knowing the good old days are here today.

Having been forced into retirement by health issues, I can tell you things change, but God doesn’t.  The same one who took care of you in life, the same one that will take care of you in the afterlife, will take care of you in retirement.  Retirement doesn’t mean you stop doing things, it just means you don’t do the same things.  My 500 mile days are limited to 300, we ride less, see more, stop when we want, and have found we still have a love of travel, and have adapted to a different level.  Still on two wheels, with more time we cover the same amount but in more time, our two week excursions now take six weeks, still dreaming of how long our six week rides will take.  We still get out and live, we have gotten older, not old.  I also have some who have retired, and then have to go back to work, making less money for  more hours, and hating retirement.  They trusted God their whole Christian life, but their real security was the paycheck.  Time and money was budgeted, now the time exceeds the money, their lifestyle changed, they didn’t.  Or at least not how they planned. 

A BMW brochure of all things has put my life and our future plans into perspective.  It reads “You two are not definitely local yokels.  You like rides that last longer than a piddly afternoon.  You like waking up on different coasts.  You like exploring this big, bad slab of a continent instead of putt putting around the neighborhood revving your pipes going nowhere.  Distant horizons call.”  If ever ad ad sounded like me, this was it.  How I choose to be remembered.  Local to us means where the road takes us, last summer 26 days and 7300 miles in 13 states.  It can be a long three day weekend, or an unplanned overnighter.  It can be lunch in Birmingham, dinner in Apalachacola, watching the sun set on the Gulf of Mexico.  It can be crossing time zones and arriving early for dinner, or just missing a late ice cream sundae because you lost an hour.  You may ride one day with the sun on your left, the next to your right.  You may like we did one day, cross the Mississippi seven times, or ride 430 miles in Florida and end up only 100 miles from where we started.  Yet there are days when a putt to the beach is far enough, and going nowhere is going somewhere.  That distant horizon may be the mountain pass at Rocky Mountain National Park, or the oceanfront watching the sea lions at San Simeon.  But life is still there for the living, no one has ever heard any man say “I wish I had one time for just one more business deal.”  But how many long for just one more ride, but never take it? 

So go somewhere for a change.  Trust Jesus.  Let the spirit guide you.  One trip started here, rode to Durango, life flighted to Albuquerque, and home in a rented Camry.  Talk about adventure, but through it we were reminded life was and is all about Jesus.  And when we trust him, and become flexible, we can know he has everything under control.  He knew the ride we were taking, and about what was to happen, and got us home.  Like the disciples in the boat who were afraid in the storm, he got us to the other side, just like he had told the disciples he would.  They thought of a long boat ride, the storm changed, Jesus didn’t.  I could have been retired that trip, God had other plans, and still does.  For what are you living and working, for whom are you toiling?

Ecclesiastes tells of a man who makes money, but dies childless with no one to pass it onto.  He never enjoyed life.  Like Howard Hughes did, at least in movie legend leaving it to a man who picked him up hitch hiking.  At least Howard was out and about, something he never did in later life.  And so the searcher asked himself, “for whom am I toiling, and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?”   Sound familiar, too familiar?  We say we trust God, do our actions say what our mouth confesses?  How local has your yokel become?  He adds “this too is meaningless.”  

Go somewhere for a change, and let Jesus change you.  Because you are getting older doesn’t mean you have to get old.  So many roads to ride, meals to eat, and time zones to cross.  Beaches yet to walk, and friends to make.  Get out and live!  Some people make lists, some are busy riding them.  Some have dreams, some quit dreaming.  Some trust God, and led by his spirit enjoy the ride of their life.  Are you still putt putting around revving your engine but going nowhere?  Does it take a month to burn a tank of gas?  Have you quit trusting the Lord, and become a slave to security?  And become in secure?  Have you give up your dreams, sleeping less but longer?  Even the neighbors hear you and say “there he goes again, nowhere.”  The spirit is willing even if your flesh is weak.  Ask God and it will be given unto you, that means a daily future too.  If the seat of your sofa is wearing faster than the tires on your bike, you have a problem.  Get out and enjoy the abundant life Jesus promises, and live again.  We work our whole life to retire, don’t blow it when you get there.  Distant horizons call, put down the remote and start twisting the throttle again.  Go where the ads call you to go, and farther.  Get out and meet other local yokels.  Go farther than just an afternoon out, trust God and see where the ride takes you.  Jesus promises you the ride of your life, start making some new testimonies today.  Get off the escalator and ride, and live.  Enjoy life with Jesus, we didn’t quit riding because we got old, we got old because we stopped riding.  Whatever your ride, let it take you somewhere other than the couch.  Set the DVR to record and ride!  Go somewhere for a change. 

love with compassion,

Mike

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