Dr. Rich Bimler poses with his wife Hazel while in their Chicago home.
Dr. Rich Bimler always has a smile on his face and a joke in his pocket. He is the Ambassador of Health, Hope, and Aging (AH-HA!), and he “joyfully” lives up to that mantra.
For five years with Worship Anew and for nine years prior with Creative Communications, Bimler has served as the Honorary Editor and Editor-at-Large of Hope-Full Living. Today, as he steps away from his work as the Editor-at-Large, Bimler is being honored with the title of Editor Emeritus of Hope-Full Living.
“Dr. Rich Bimler has brought his personal style to this beautiful devotional publication. His humor and joy for the Lord resonate in his own writings and are infused into the devotions authored by our much-loved authors,” said Matthew Leighty, executive director of Worship Anew. “As Dr. Bimler moves into his new role as Editor Emeritus, we are so grateful to know that his legacy will carry on through Hope-Full Living as it will continue to share the hope we have in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Bimler has spent years as a champion of older adults and says it is important to find the joy in aging and to celebrate the gifts that God has given them.
“Aging is a gift,” said Bimler, who is currently 84. “Joyfully aging is true because of the Lord.”
The title of Ambassador of Health, Hope, and Aging was given to him along the way in his career, but he has definitely owned the “AH- HA!” of the title and lived it out in his life.
“Every time he talked, he’d bring 87 buttons to pass out. ‘You wanna be an ‘AH-HA’ person? Here’s a button,’” his wife, Hazel, laughed as she recalled.
As faithful readers of Hope-Full Living over the years would recall, he signed each letter at the start of the devotional with “Dr. Rich Bimler, Editor at Large, Ambassador of Health, Hope, and Aging (AH-HA).”
“I go around saying it to people, and they look at me kind of weird, but it’s a good way to say we’re here to celebrate the Lord’s presence,” Bimler said. “That’s the joy that we have had to bring joyfulness rather than, oh golly, another year older and this hurts and that hurts. But, it’s to say that the Lord is still there in the midst of it.”
His messages in Hope-Full Living and through his work in his books and other areas of his career have shared the same message:
“It is so good to keep saying, ‘AH-HA.’ Sometimes I don’t feel like AH-HA, but that’s OK because our Lord is still with us,” he said.
As he transitions out of his role with Hope-Full Living, he’s blessed to see how the authors are continuing the work to provide devotionals that are shaped for aging adults and by doing it in a way that keeps the “AH-HA.”
“I think the writers get as much of a blessing with their writing as the people who read the devotions because that’s therapy for them, as well—to share their life, what’s happened in their life, what’s lifted them up, what’s made them go on, and what’s helped them to age joyfully,” Hazel shared.
“There’s a lot of devotional booklets out there, but the authors that you have put together are so real. They are living it,” Bimler added. “They are not just church professionals, but they’re doing it because they’ve got a gift for writing, and more than that, they’ve got a relationship with our Lord, and that’s just marvelous.”
Despite changes in his life, Bimler still continues to live joyfully and hold up his mantle of being an Ambassador of Health, Hope, and Aging. He continues to pass out Hope-Full Living devotionals in his church and anyone that he comes across. He sees Hope-Full Living as a way to open the door to have a conversation with someone who is hurting.
“It’s easy to talk about Hope-Full Living. A couple of times (when I visited a nursing home), they were so elated that someone brought something to them,” Bimler said. “They are so pleased because it touches them. That’s just a powerful thing.”
“See, joyfully aging, that is because aging is a gift,” Bimler said.
Watch this video in honor of Dr. Rich BImler and his service to Hope-Full Living.