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Viewpoint from Dave Weeks 16/02/2018
 Dave Weeks
Pastor of Hope Church (retired)
as published in the Yarmouth Mercury
This Christmas I decided to retire. I have been in church ministry for a long time but I believed this now the time to do so. It has been said that there is no retirement in the Kingdom of God and of course that is true, I am still a Christian and will continue to live out my life as such
 Retirement and indeed any sudden changes in our lives can be quite challenging. What do we do now? How do we cope in our new situation? Our sudden change in circumstances may not have been by choice. Maybe something happened that caused our life to go off in a different direction
In the Bible we read about the Apostle Paul. His life took all sorts of twists and turns. Often it was his decision to visit certain places on his missionary journeys. However on numerous occasions his plans were dramatically changed. Sometimes God redirected him, but often his plans were altered by even beyond his control. He was often beaten and persecuted for his faith and had to escape from his persecutors, often by the skin of his teeth! He was imprisoned a number of times and shipwrecked three times. His response? He continued to serve God and preach the gospel wherever and whenever he could. He totally trusted God for his life, determining to share the love of Jesus whatever his circumstances
 How will I spend my retirement? I am looking forward to spending more time with my family. I will get out on my bike as much as I can, get my water colours out again and do some painting, and learn to hit a golf ball in a straight line! I will attempt to catch up with all the jobs around the house that nee doing, encouraged by the long list my wife has drawn up for me! Primarily though, I want to take a leaf out of Paul's book and keep looking for those opportunities to share Jesus with whoever I can, to continue to pray for people and to tell the gospel story to those who will listen
Can I encourage anyone reading these words, who may have had a big change in their circumstance to keep their focus on Jesus and His purposes? There is nothing more satisfying and it will certainly help as you now navigate your way through your new situations
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