The Rich Fool's Retirement Plan
Jesus told a parable about a man who built bigger barns and called it wisdom. I recognized my own retirement account in it more than I wanted to.
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The Budget My Wife and I Built Around Trust, Not Fear
Our first draft retirement budget was built entirely on worst-case thinking. Here's what changed when we started over.
Read MoreWhat My Social Security Check Can't Give Me
The first Social Security statement felt like relief and something close to grief at the same time. Here's what that check can't actually provide, no matter the amount.
Read MoreThe Inheritance I Actually Want to Leave
We finally updated the will this year. It made me think harder about what I actually want to hand my kids, and it isn't mostly money.
Read MoreTithing When the Paycheck Stops
For thirty years my giving was ten percent of a number that showed up automatically. Retirement is about to change what that number is, and I'm having to think about giving again like it's new.
Read MoreReturn to Your Rest, My Soul
Four studies this season end on the same note they all quietly pointed toward. Day seven, the close.
Read MoreThe Shepherd Handles Running Out
Seven mornings on trusting God with money end where they probably should have started. Day seven, the last of this study.
Read MoreWell Done Isn't Said at the Retirement Party
I got a nice speech and a plaque at my retirement party. It wasn't the review that actually counts. Day seven, the close of this study.
Read MoreA Quiet Place to Lie Down
Green pastures don't happen by accident in this psalm. Day six of the study looks at who's actually doing the leading.
Read MoreMy Yoke Is Easy
The verse right after 'come to me' tells you what to actually do once you get there. Day five of the study.
Read MoreGenerosity Before I Feel Ready
I keep waiting to feel ready to give generously in this new season. Day six of the study says that's not actually the requirement.
Read MoreBe Still and Let That Be Enough
Being still has never come naturally to me. Day four of the study sits with the verse that asks for it anyway.
Read MoreNot a Postscript
I've been treating this season like the postscript to my real story. Philippians 1 disagrees. Day six of the study.
Read MoreThe Sabbath Was Never About Being Useless
I've been treating rest like an admission of uselessness. Mark 2 says the Sabbath was built the other way around. Day three of the study.
Read MoreMy Portion, Not My Plan
My plan can fail. My portion, apparently, can't. Day five of the study sits with the difference.
Read MoreWhatever Is Left, Give It
Solomon's advice for whatever's in front of your hands doesn't have a retirement clause. Day five of the study.
Read MoreNot the Same as Stopping
I retired and discovered stopping and resting aren't the same thing at all. Day two of the study.
Read MoreI Said I'd Tell You Plainly
The fourth and final study this season is here, and it's the one I promised to announce plainly when it came.
Read MoreLeaning Somewhere Other Than My Own Math
My retirement math is decent. It's also not where Proverbs 3 tells me to put my weight. Day four of the study.
Read MoreA Body That Doesn't Retire Its Members
A church doesn't have a mandatory retirement age for its members. Day four of the study sits with why.
Read MoreSustained to the Gray Hairs
Seven days on aging without shrinking end with a promise that covers ground the whole study only pointed at. Day seven, the close.
Read MoreNumbering My Days on Purpose
I've started actually counting instead of avoiding the math. Day six of the study on aging without shrinking.
Read MoreThe Warning I Keep Needing to Hear
Before Jesus told the story about the man who built bigger barns, he said one sentence first. Day three of the study sits with that sentence.
Read MoreStill Declaring What He's Done
The same psalm that opened this study has a job description for old age. Day five picks it back up.
Read MoreThe Gift Doesn't Expire
Nobody handed back their spiritual gifts at the retirement party. Day three of the study on purpose after the paycheck.
Read MoreA Future the Body Can't Cancel
My body is a rental with a lease that's going to end. Day four of the study looks at what happens after that.
Read MoreThe Birds Don't Have a 401(k)
Jesus pointed at a bird to make a point about money. Day two of trusting God with your money starts there.
Read MoreWork That Doesn't Show Up on a W-2
Nobody's issuing me a W-2 for what I did yesterday. Colossians 3 says that was never the point. Day two of the study.
Read MoreRenewed Like the Eagle
My knees don't renew like they used to. Isaiah 40 says something in me still can. Day three of the study.
Read MoreA Crown, Not a Countdown
The mirror keeps trying to tell me gray hair is a countdown. Proverbs 16 calls it a crown. Day two of the study.
Read MoreLearning to Be Content
Seven mornings on trusting God with money, starting with the one I still haven't mastered: being content with what's actually in the account.
Read MoreMade Before the Job Title
A new seven-day study on purpose after the paycheck starts with a verse older than any resume.
Read MoreDo Not Cast Me Away
A new study on aging without shrinking starts with the honest prayer of an old man in the Psalms.
Read MoreWhy I'm Not Afraid of Running Out of Money (Most Days)
A 2 a.m. confession about financial fear, and the two verses I keep going back to when it shows up.
Read MoreDaily Devotional for Seniors
I started keeping a small notebook by my coffee mug about a year ago. Here's a little of what it's looked like, in case starting your own is something you've been circling too.
Read MoreThe Year We Paid Off the House Before Retirement
Three extra years of payments to walk into retirement owing nothing to anyone. Here's why we did it, and what it actually bought us.
Read MoreBible Verses About Aging Gracefully
My hair's been more gray than not for six years, and I used to apologize for it without saying a word. Six verses that changed how I think about that.
Read MoreWhat I Do With My Time Now That No One's Paying For It
For thirty-two years my calendar belonged to someone else. Now it's mine, and I've had to learn what stewardship looks like when the resource is hours, not dollars.
Read MoreThe Tuesday I Started Calling Volunteering Worship Instead of a Favor
I signed up to unload boxes at the church food pantry thinking I was doing Carol a favor. A verse about stewardship changed what I think I'm actually doing there.
Read MoreA Prayer for Retirement
I'm not a natural pray-out-loud man. I wrote this prayer on a morning when the right words weren't coming, and I've prayed some version of it most weeks since.
Read MoreChristian Retirement Verses: What the Bible Says About This Season of Life
People ask me what the Bible says about retirement, expecting one verse. I never have just one. Six that I keep coming back to instead.
Read MoreWhat My Retirement Number Doesn't Tell Me
Every retirement calculator wants to give me a number. I've started wondering what that number can't actually tell me.
Read MoreWhy I'm Not Chasing a Bigger Life Anymore
A Christian reflection on choosing a quieter, simpler, more faithful next chapter instead of carrying a bigger life into retirement.
Read MoreThe Christian Case for Owning Less
There are more self-storage facilities in America than McDonald's. We've built an industry around the things we own but don't use. Late in my fifties, I'm starting to think the Christian case for owning less is really just a case for being free.
Read MoreHow We Started Simplifying Our Home Before Retirement
My wife put it better than I could. She said: "I feel like we're making room for what's next."
Read MoreWhat the Bible Actually Says About Retirement
The Bible never uses the word retirement. Not once. So what does Scripture actually have to say about this season of life?
Read MoreWhy I'm Approaching Retirement Differently
Most men coast into retirement without a plan beyond the financial. I'm trying something different — and I want to do it out loud.
Read MoreEphesians 6:10-18
Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. A reflection on spiritual warfare and the protection God provides.
Read MoreBread of Life
Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."
Read MoreMatthew 5:9-12
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. A reflection on the Beatitudes and what it means to live as a peacemaker in a troubled world.
Read MoreMorning Reflections
I like to open my day with some self-reflection and devotion to God; I have found that it deepens my relationship and sets me on the path of a productive and thankful day.
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