Yesterday evening I was at my coffee shop, aka my office, relaxing after teaching my afternoon class. I was about to leave when I heard a group of people speaking Spanish. They were all Americans who have a Spanish club on Tuesday evenings at the coffee shop. Normally I teach Tuesday evenings, so I did not know about them.

I walked over and asked, “ustedes estan hablando espanol?”- are you speaking Spanish- to which they answered yes. I asked if I could join them and they smiled and agreed. We had fun speaking in Spanish. The group was six retired people, so even though I was much younger, 🙂 , they let me join.

My evening class starts again next week, so sadly I cannot join their group again until December, but yesterday evening gave me a glimpse of life outside the classroom. I have taught in the evenings for twenty-two years, Teaching in the evenings has allowed me to connect with the diverse people living in my city. I can join any cultural event and people know me as the teacher. It has been a blessing, but the desire to have my evenings freed up was highlighted yesterday evening.

When asked when I will retire, my normal response is, “when I die.” That is in reference to my ministry. But teaching is so interconnected with my ministry, my thoughts on retirement also apply to teaching. But yesterday evening felt great. We will see what happens in the future. I draw my thoughts on retirement from Philippians 1:21

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

The only reason I am still in this earthly life is to share Jesus with others. It will be interesting to see how Jesus leads me in the future.

Thank you for reading. God Bless.