One couple had thoroughly prepared for retirement. They saved enough, took classes on everything from insurance to health and fitness. They used vacations to scout out retirement locales and planned to pursue hobbies and interests. Service to others is part of spiritual growth. Genevieve Denny and Mabel Boylon found volunteering with the Maryknoll Missionaries' Call and Response program rewarding.
Participants get a taste of serving people in other countries - for just a few weeks at a time.
The two widows, long time friends from Michigan, visited with families and with residents of a nursing home in Oaxaca, Mexico. It gave me a good feeling to be able to give kids and older people the attention they yearned for. To miss this opportunity is to forfeit perhaps the most dramatic opportunity for growth in our lives. Retirement challenges us to listen ever more deeply to the sounds of our souls, to see flashes of God's love everywhere, and to feel the mighty movement of the Spirit within. Also desirable - flexibility, creativity, wisdom.