I had fully expected to serve the parish until my 70 th birthday but once I passed that magical day of full retirement age it was harder and harder to answer the bell every Sunday morning, not to mention perform all the routine chores and decisions that are required of a solo clergy person in parish life. I was surrounded by smart and able-bodied staff and volunteers who love the church and supported their pastor in many wonderful ways. This was never about Jesus, God, or the Church but that no one lives forever and, in the end—in that final hour—no person ever has wished that they could have spent a little more time in the office. After finishing things up i the parish, a few pastoral situations, and a few baptisms, the last day of service came and went and Dallas and I were contemplating Pura Vida in Costa Ricaa
We both ended our careers on the last day of the
year 2019 and moved our household to Costa Rica. What follows is a diary or
blog about our experiences during this journey. I am writing in near real-time
so that my memories are fresh and clear with the hope that you who read and
follow this adventure will feel empowered to make the similar decision—before
it’s too late!
Much of what I write will be about experiences we went
through on this adventure. I hope to be able to offer insight which might be helpful
to someone considering a similar journey. I want to be encouraging of the hopes
and dreams you might have but not sugar-coat the ups and downs, the ‘goods’ and
‘bads’, the smart decisions we made and the knuckle-headed mistakes as well.
If all that we accomplish is to entertain you with our story
of a couple nomads who left it all behind in search of a world full of beauty,
peace, and love, that will be enough. How we did it, and what we might do
differently—this is the story of our Great Escape to Pura Vida.
