iRetire4Him Show 153: "You Got 39 Minutes?"

Jim Brangenberg: Your retirement years can be 30 years filled with meaning and purpose as long as you connect your faith and your retirement days. Welcome to iRetire4Him. I'm your host, Jim Brangenberg. Please check us out online iRetire4Him.com. I retire the number 4 him.com.

You know when I first met Russell, he was running a mobile escape room company out of Colorado, a successful businessman. Russell has transitioned the company into a new owner's hands, and Russell and his wife Sandy are off on an adventure called the Retirement Years.

Russell has spent his working years as a teacher, a Dale Carnegie coach, a business owner, and more. This past summer, Russell and Sandy explored RV Life on Rush Lake in Minnesota. That's one of the 18 lakes called Rush Lake in Minnesota. But this can't be all there is to retirement, can it? Today we hear a bit of Russell's story and see where God is leading him in the next stage of life. Russell, welcome to, iRetire4Him.

Russell Jenson: You know what, thanks for the introduction, Jim. You nailed all of the lakes, all of the names, and all the business stuff. Good for you. Thanks for doing your homework.

Jim Brangenberg: I had some help online and your LinkedIn profiles pretty good. All right, so Russell, how long have you been retired?

Russell Jenson: Myself really since September 1st of this year, which is 2025. We call it official as we handed over the business. My wife retired in May of last year after being a speech pathologist in the schools for over 30 years. So a new venture for us here, for sure.

Jim Brangenberg: So literally you've been retired for officially for two months and a few days. Okay. All right. And this show is getting released in the middle of November of 2025, so this is fresh, and I love to catch fresh retirement stories because you've spent your whole life working. And when you were facing retirement, you knew what you're retiring from, you knew what you were walking away from, right?

Russell Jenson: Yes.

Jim Brangenberg: Did you know what you were retiring to?

Russell Jenson: No.

Jim Brangenberg: There you go. And that's what we talk about in the show all the time. This is show 154, I believe, or maybe 1 55. I can't remember what it is. But that's the point of this, is that so many people know what they're retiring from. They don't know where they're retiring too.

And that's what's exciting. As long as you could say, okay, God, what do you have for me? So you spent this last summer exploring retirement, doing the RV Life in Minnesota, the frozen tundra when it's melted. Talk to me about what was that like? As you started to explore, you had a pretty interesting summer.

Russell Jenson: Yeah, it was. We had actually purchased the the RV up in Minnesota the summer prior. So we knew we were both gonna retire, we're gonna be done. And it was gonna be a pretty much a full summer there. And you know what I would say, it exceeded our expectations. It just was, when you have nothing at that point in time on the calendar, that is almost scary, a little bit, to say.

We have nothing written down. Like when we did, when we were both working, we had this schedule and we had this meeting and those types of things, and my wife was in the schools. But to have nothing on a calendar can be a little scary.

Jim Brangenberg: I was gonna say freaky. For me, I just can't imagine having nothing on my calendar. But when you're sitting in an RV park, in a campground in Minnesota, campgrounds in Minnesota are spectacular. They're always on a lake. There's always boat motors humming in the background. Some guys like 25 horsepower outboard, pushing a, a 14 foot fishing boat out to go get some fish at five o'clock in the morning. The smells, the loons in the background. It's just gorgeous.

Russell Jenson: Yeah.

Jim Brangenberg: But you found yourself - God gave you a mission, didn't he? As, as you were relaxing, getting to know your other campground mates, what happened?

Russell Jenson: Yeah, I just learned that being there's probably about a hundred different campers in this campground, and it's actually a relatively nice place, i'm proud to bring my friends out there and it's pretty nice. But what I found is during the course of the week, really from Minneapolis, will show up on a Thursday night or a Friday, and then will leave late afternoon on Sunday. And get their week going and then just do it all summer long.

And in talking to people, I asked them, I said, you know what? How much do you get out of your routine in the summertime? Because in the wintertime you do the same thing. You're not coming out to the lake, not having to do all of those kind of things. And they say, you know what? We love the routine of the lake, but it does get us a little bit out of it.

And I said, does it get you outta church at all? And this is just a random question for them. I said, does this take you away from something that you do during the winter? And they said, absolutely. Yeah. Most of us attend some type of a church, a Lutheran church or whatever. And I said, what if I were to do a 39 minute church service first thing Sunday morning, would you come?

I said, and by the way, I am not a pastor. I'm not a pastor, I'm just a believer and somebody that feels like God has put me in a place to get his message out to people that are out of their routine.

Jim Brangenberg: So I'm gonna just stop in there for a second. Sorry. I know that's, you were sharing your story, but you said you're not a pastor and you did this carte blanche thing. I'm not a pastor. Huh. So, did you minister to people this summer?

Russell Jenson: Yes.

Jim Brangenberg: Okay. Did you do a little teaching?

Russell Jenson: Yes.

Jim Brangenberg: Okay. Did you find yourself shepherding anybody over the summer?

Russell Jenson: Absolutely.

Jim Brangenberg: I'm thinking you're a pastor, buddy! You don't have to go to seminary to be a pastor, for crying out loud!

Guess what? Paul didn't go to seminary. Peter didn't go to seminary. They didn't go to seminary. We have all, we have got to stop saying I'm not a pastor because you're not in a pulpit in some big fancy church. You were a pastor all summer long, full time and at a campground. Actually you were a missionary pastor 'cause you were in a place where they're lost on hopeless people and they needed to meet Jesus.

Russell Jenson: I would agree with that. And you know what? People ask me, are you ordained? And I'm like, I don't really know what that means. Does that mean school? I don't really know what that means.

Jim Brangenberg: It's important only if you're gonna marry people. Otherwise that's, you don't have to be ordained to be a pastor. You need to be ordained in order to marry people. That's just a rule.

Russell Jenson: It was interesting because I did introduce myself as not a pastor, but a believer and somebody that feels like Jesus would be part of our life maybe more than he currently is. And I'm just here to send a little message.

So what happened was they have a little Facebook page, and I said, you know what, I'm gonna, I'm just gonna see if anybody will show up. I'm gonna do a little service on Sunday. I promised them 39 minutes or less. One song on the front end, out of my little Bluetooth box, one on the end, and a very simple message on Sunday morning. And I said, start at nine. We'll be out at 9 39.

Jim Brangenberg: And everybody's wondering, so I gotta ask, where did the 9:39 come from?

Russell Jenson: I don't know. You know what? If you tell 'em it's gonna be an hour, they probably go, ah that's too much. But I thought if I take the under of 40 minutes, maybe people will go, I'll give the guy 39 minutes and we'll see what happens. So it was just a number that popped up in my,

Jim Brangenberg: I like it. All right. So you were trying to overcome objections before you actually heard them.

Russell Jenson: Yes. I gave the over/under six people. I talked to a handful and I put it on the Facebook page and nobody responded. I said, you know what, if I get six people, that's fine by me.

The first time I did it there was 32 people that showed up and they showed up with their bloody Mary's and in their golf carts and in their camp chairs, and they just set up in just a grassy area right by the docks and stuff. And I was it was enough to make you nervous.

Jim Brangenberg: The over and under - you should get a different bookie.

Russell Jenson: I know. So I decided I would do something that, that I knew a little bit about. And I did a a message on spiritual gifts. What does God have for us? How has he used me as a now pastor? How has he used my spiritual gifts to get me where I'm in?

And I told a little, a real quick testimonial about how I got here, and if you were to rewind the tape 20 years, there's no way I'm speaking the word of God to people in a campground. It's just, it's not possible. I just kinda lean in to say, God has plans for me. He is given me some gifts to be able to speak to a group, to lean into people, to minister to people and this is what I'm doing.

And so it was great. And now they're really looking forward to the next summer and they want me to do more and more of those. Maybe it's not every Sunday but there was some talk around the campground. " That was worth my time." And I guess really that's all I needed to hear.

Jim Brangenberg: Did you do it just one time?

Russell Jenson: Just the one time, yeah, first time in the summer. It got complicated with some things that were going on with our family personally and whatever. So next year I'm gonna commit a little bit more to this thing and put some time into it. And I'm really excited that they're excited about coming in.

Jim Brangenberg: Just a little jealousy here that you actually get to back to Minnesota, the, to the tundra when it's melted, when it's gorgeous up there and be able spend a little time around the lake. It's nothing like the smell of fresh water in Minnesota.

Awesome. Love that. All right, so that's one thing God was preparing you to do all your work life. Did you ever anticipate that?

Russell Jenson: Never. Absolutely never. Yeah, the last just handful of years, God has just taken me by the shirt and said, you know what? I have other plans for you. You have a business to run and whatever, but I want to try to set you up so when you retire, and I think that's why the invitation came, Jim, and thank you for that.

What's next? What are you gonna do next? What do you want to do when this, when the business season of your life has moved on? Now what? Are you gonna lean into God? Are you gonna go sit and go to Florida and sit around the doing nothing? And I decided I'm going to lean into the word of God and find out exactly what he has for me. So I even wrote it down before we got on this call. I said, I am going to listen for direction. And that's what I have been doing.

Jim Brangenberg: The good news is when you're in the quiet in the campground in Minnesota, you can hear a lot better and you're surrounded by nature. It always seems like it's easier to hear God's voice when you're out in nature. Is that the case for you as well?

Russell Jenson: Yes. I spent a lot of time on the boat just fishing and just doing whatever.

Jim Brangenberg: Pontoon boat, bass boat?

Russell Jenson: Pontoon.

Jim Brangenberg: Okay. Yes. 25 foot, 275 horsepower, dual leads on the back? What do you got?

Russell Jenson: Not quite that big. It's probably about a 21 footer with a 90 horse Honda on the back.

Jim Brangenberg: All right, there you go. So you can pull the grandkids on a tube, but you can't pull 'em skiing.

Russell Jenson: That's correct.

Jim Brangenberg: Got it.

Russell Jenson: Yes.

Jim Brangenberg: Yep. Got it. Nice. All right. Do you miss the daily grind, Russell?

Russell Jenson: You know what? I saw that question when we talked earlier and honestly my business was never really a grind. I don't know if a lot of people you interview would say, "it was a grind. It was a grind. It was a grind." I loved my work so much that it was never a grind for me because at the end of the day when I finished doing the leadership training and team building, experiential learning stuff, I could walk away going, "I moved the needle with some people with this company or with the individuals that we work for, or the teams that we worked with."

And it was just one of those things. I'm like, this is what I do, and I just absolutely love it. Jim mentioned that I had a, it was an escape room. It was a mobile escape room where we would take a 53 foot semi-trailer. We made it into a 1960s prison. It was called Bust Out Colorado. And we would bring it to companies and people would get in these, into the escape room, and we would analyze team dynamics, both individually and how teams work together when things got difficult. And then we go back into the conference room and have a really interesting debrief about what individuals brought to a team and how this unique experience relates to the challenges they face every day.

So back to your question about do I miss the grind? It was so rewarding. It was a lot of work getting it out there and getting a park and set up and to have to deal with all the power and generators and stuff. At the end of the day, it was worth it to me, so it wasn't really a grind.

Jim Brangenberg: I can't wait to see how God uses all of that in the next phase. In today's podcast, we're gonna just touch the surface of what retirement can look like and how to prepare or to pivot. We've got a resource that can take you deeper in helping you gain a perspective to be encouraged and even adjust your thinking. We offer our book, iRetire4Him, unlock God's Purpose for Your Retirement.

This book can be yours for just the cost of shipping, just during the Christmas season. Email me, jim@iWork4Him.com and request a copy. Jim at I work the number 4 him.com, for just the cost of shipping.

Alright. As you mentioned, Russell, both you and your bride have retired. You both did it within a short period of time before you guys retired. What kinds of things did you guys do for fun together?

Russell Jenson: Yeah. We are big golfers. Our vacations that we go on always have the golf clubs along with us, and we have a little bucket list that we do every year on how many golf courses we can check off during the course of a year, and this year it was over 60 different golf courses.

Being up for the summertime, yeah, there's so many courses, but golfing has brought us together, things that we can do together. Be frustrated together on a golf course, on occasion. But that has really kept us together and we do we do love to travel. That's for sure.

Jim Brangenberg: What was your favorite golf course this year in Minnesota?

Russell Jenson: oh boy. There was one, actually, I'm wearing the shirt right now. It's called the Ponds, P-O-N-D-S, which is just north of Minneapolis. Very challenging golf course. Frustrating. But they're cheap up there in comparing 'cause you have to think about that in your retirement years, that you could play a lot of golf in Minnesota for a relatively inexpensive price. But that was just, that was a really fun golf course just north of Minneapolis.

Jim Brangenberg: All right, so you would golf before. You're still getting to golf now. What is it that Sandy - and I'm just gonna ask you to talk for Sandy. I should have probably said, Sandy, why don't you join Russell today? I didn't. Next time. - What is it that you think you see that new opportunities for fun for you to do? When you're up north, do you go fishing?

Russell Jenson: We do, yeah. Spend a lot of time in the water fishing in that area.

Jim Brangenberg: Catching or fishing, catching, or fishing?

Russell Jenson: Fishing.

 (chuckles)

Jim Brangenberg: Most people listening don't know the difference. I've spent a lot of time in a boat in Minnesota fishing, not very much time catching.

Russell Jenson: Yes.

Jim Brangenberg: Fish up there are much more wily than they are in other parts of the world.

Russell Jenson: No doubt about that.

Jim Brangenberg: So as you guys prepared for you to retire, to sell the business, what did you guys dream about as you started talking about this retirement reality? What'd you guys talk about? What were some of the things you had in your mind?

Russell Jenson: I wish I would had a really great story for you there, Jim, but one of the things it felt like it snuck up on us. And I think there, if there are people listening to this I'm guessing there are people listening to this conversation,

Jim Brangenberg: at least the two of us.

Russell Jenson: Yeah. Yeah. That would be one of the things that, that I wish I probably would've thought of a little bit more. Maybe that's some advice or a challenge that I would give this group is have those conversations before. What does it look like? We're both healthy and we're still. God has just given us such great health, and he is given us a couple of nickels in our pockets.

So finances aren't a huge issue for us. But if I were to give advice to the other people listening to this show would be, have a plan in place because I feel like. We are in a season right now, and as you mentioned, Jim, we really, it's just been so fresh, just a couple of months and when I said we have an empty calendar, that can be a little dangerous.

It's now what are we gonna do? What happens next? Where do we go? What's the next thing? So it's been spur of the moment things. So my encouragement to maybe others would be put a plan in place, and if they don't all fit into place, that's fine. I'm very fortunate to have a wife that is a, she just loves the Lord just like I do.

And we lean into God, we lean into his word in just what he has for us in the next season of our life. But I don't feel like we prepared as well as we probably could have.

Jim Brangenberg: That's, the preparation part, it's hard because where do you go? They don't talk about this at church. They don't really, the only thing they talk about in business is preparing for your finances for retirement.

I can't tell you I'm now in the business of talking about this, but until I started talking about this, Martha's dad was the only one I ever knew that lived out of retirement with purpose because most people just like to check out. They go on vacation and there's nobody talking about, Hey, in retirement, you're actually a fully funded missionary wherever you go.

You're fully funded. You don't have to raise any money. You get to go and in fact, you're welcome. Martha and I'll help contribute to your retirement as we pay our social security so you can suck it out. So that's good.

Russell Jenson: Thank you. Yeah, I appreciate it.

Jim Brangenberg: Nope, you're very welcome. How do you, how are you gonna find out what God has for you in these retirement years? How are you gonna figure that out?

Russell Jenson: So I wrote this down too in preparation for this. And you're part of this journey with me, Jim, every Wednesday morning and the friendship that we have together, I put down on my calendar. I am with a group of men on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Saturdays, and then I go to church on Sunday, wherever that is.

We'll find a church someplace. And real quickly - on Monday, I counsel four guys that are on their path to becoming closer to God, which is great. It's just a quick zoom call that we do for about a half hour Monday. Tuesdays, lead a small group at 5:30 in the morning. We have 35 guys on that call, and we go through the book of right now we're in the book of James, which is a great book if you haven't been in there

Wednesdays, i'm on a call with you from seven to eight in the morning with what, how many we have on there. 15 or 18 guys? Yeah.

Jim Brangenberg: Somewhere between there. Yep.

Russell Jenson: From all over. And then Thursday I coach a young man over in Pakistan who is a new pastor. His name is Aly. And we plan for the Saturday service, either myself or Blake Maddox from 365 Christian men.

And we counsel and we coach him to put together a service for his people over in Pakistan. And he does all the translating. Those are my calendar items right now. And again, so God driven for me, and I've mentioned this before, you rewind the tape. 15, 16, 17 years. There's no way I'm filling up my morning calendar with God first things. That's where I say, I'm gonna listen for direction. And we'll just see where this takes us.

Jim Brangenberg: Is Sandy an early riser like you? Because that just sounds brutal, getting up that early in the morning every day.

Russell Jenson: I know. She is not. She is not.

Jim Brangenberg: That's why you're always in your basement in the morning when we're on our call. That's it. All right. So besides talking about retirement, is there anything you wish you had done to prepare yourself better for the next, you could have 30 or 40 years of your life ahead of you. How old was your dad when he was, when he died?

Russell Jenson: 92.

Jim Brangenberg: 92. All right. So you've got at least between now and then to look forward to, potentially. What could you have done to be better prepared?

Russell Jenson: I don't really know. I thought about that question. I'm not really sure. I don't know that it's calendar items for me. I don't think it's bucket list items. I just feel like maybe God has spoken to us and I include my wife on this one, is let's just take this a day at a time and see where he leads us.

People have big plans and we're gonna go here, we're gonna go do that and we're gonna buy this, or we're gonna conserve here. All of those different things that people talk about in retirement. I think for the two of us, we have decided let's just let God lead us to wherever that might be. And again, led me to, six different days of the week starting with Christian focused things. And I think that's a real start, that God is going, you know what? Buckle your seatbelt because I've got great plans for you. So now it's the time to listen for direction for us.

Jim Brangenberg: You got kids and grandkids spread all across the country?

Russell Jenson: No grandkids.

Jim Brangenberg: Tell your kids let's get going! You're retired.

Russell Jenson: We have one son. He's 25 and I would say he's pretty distant away from having any grandkids right now. He is still trying to find his way, the routine.

Jim Brangenberg: Yeah, I know, but I'm on number nine grandchild and I'm younger than you. Trying to figure out what is going on. We gotta have a class here for these younger kids.

Russell, as we close out the show today, as those who are listening are preparing for retirement, what kind of encouragement do you have for them?

Russell Jenson: Start with prayer. Just start with prayer. Jim mentioned earlier that, getting up early in the morning, probably not everybody's wheelhouse, but that would be one thing that I would do is just start the day and say, you know what, God, what do you have for me today? And careful what you ask for because he will direct you in places that I never felt that I would go and my wife would go.

And even though the calendar is blank at this point in time, which is a real blessing, God has big plans for every single one of us, and if we ask him for direction, we get into the word, get involved. If you're not in a small group at this point in time, try to get on one of those. If it's a Zoom or if it's an in person at your church or just, you know what, get together with some guys for coffee and just get connected with other men and other couples and just, you'll find direction.

When people gather, and certainly putting God first, but I think if you put yourself in front of other people and let 'em know what you're doing, and people seem to be envious too of, oh my gosh, you're retired. You're retired and we're so happy. We're just really happy. But none of this would've happened at all without the grace of God. There is no doubt about it.

Jim Brangenberg: And it's likely that what you're going to find, already seems like it's being put into action. All that leadership development that you did and all that teaching, the Dale Carnegie stuff, that God's probably got a plan for that for the next 30 years as you retire. I mean that, that stuff doesn't go to waste. He doesn't. He's just not gonna pay you for it. You don't need to make the money anymore.

Russell Jenson: He's already paid.

Jim Brangenberg: That's right. That's just fantastic. Russell Jenson, thanks so much for being on iRetire4Him today.

Russell Jenson: Thanks a lot, Jim. I appreciate you having me.

Jim Brangenberg: And as we close out today's show, if you're looking for an easy way to support iRetire4Him in 2026, it's just Roundup. We have a program through Project World Impact that allows all your purchases to just be rounded up to the next dollar on your credit card. And those pennies given to our ministry, iWork4Him. To learn more go to iWork4Him.com/donate to get signed up today.

You've been listening to iRetire4Him with your host, Jim Brangenberg. In this retirement phase of life, we all want our lives to be full of meaning and purpose so that we can say iRetire4Him.