David Lee

“The Lord has His way in the whirlwind and the storm.” – Nehemiah 1:3

I recollect, when a lad, and while attending a classical institute in the vicinity of Mt. Pleasant, sitting on an elevation of that mountain, and watching a storm as it came up in the valley.  The heavens were filled with blackness, and the earth was shaken by the voice of thunder.  It seemed as though that fair landscape was utterly changed, and its beauty gone never to return.

But the storm swept on, and passed out of the valley; and if I had sat in the same place on the following day, and said “Where is the terrible storm, with all its terrible blackness?” the grass would have said, “Part of the storm is in me,” and the daisy would have said, “Part of it is in me,” and the fruits and the flowers and everything that grows out of the ground would have said, “Part of the storm is incandescent in me.”

Have you asked to be made like your Lord?  Have you longed for the fruit of the Spirit, and have you prayed for sweetness and gentleness and love?  Then fear not the stormy tempest that is at this moment sweeping through your life.  A blessing is in the storm, and there will be the rich fruitage in the “afterward.”

Written by Henry Ward Beecher

On June 14th of 2010,  I officially retired from the teaching profession.  At that point, I didn’t really have any concrete ideas on what retirement would hold.  I contemplated several different avenues, even including the possibility of working at a funeral home.  (I’d totally forgotten about that one.) But the path of the past eight years has seen me return to the classroom in several different capacities, in fact, to the point I’ve just completed renewing my teaching certificate for another five years.

For the majority of the eight years of retirement, I’ve substituted from day-to-day for teachers who were sick or out for some other reason.  But I’ve also done more than a dozen interim positions for teachers out on maternity leave, surgeries, and the like.  These include working three-fourths of a year at one middle school when a replacement for a retiring teaching couldn’t be found and half a year at another middle school where a teacher had resigned.  Most recently, I was given the opportunity to teach fifth-grade science every day for half a day for the entire school year.

It was because of my increased desire to continue teaching that I’ve recently renewed my teaching certificate.  This will allow me to work more of the long-term positions and hopefully return to the fifth-grade position during the next school year.  It required quite a bit of work over a relatively short period to earn the credits needed to renew, but I had no doubt in my mind it was the direction I should be taking at this point.

I have learned that you never really know what the future holds.  You can have and make all the plans that you want, but there is an ultimate plan, a Divine plan, being worked on each and every day of our lives.  I put my hope and trust in God, turning my will and my life over to His care and trusting Him with the outcomes.  I wouldn’t change anything about my eight years of retirement and can only imagine what the next eight years might hold.

To Everything There is a Season

1To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

2A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

3A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

4A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

5A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

6A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

7A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

8A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

In the first part of my writing, I described a situation where something that had been long-lasting has reached its end.  I would be remiss if I didn’t also mention that there are other new avenues that are opening at the same time.

This past winter, a good friend sent me an ad that said the local newspaper was looking for a “nightlife photographer.”  This friend knew how much I enjoyed photography and after reading what he’d sent me, I decided to apply for the job.  After several weeks, I was contacted and told the job was mine.

Since that point in time, I’ve gone out and about each weekend to take pictures at local restaurants, bars, sporting events and music venues.  It’s been a bit outside my comfort zone, but I’ve been pleased with the results.  With every weekend’s pics, I inevitably see someone from my past and enjoy having a conversation.  I take one hundred pictures each weekend, most of which I get on Friday night.  They are posted online the following week.

Another exciting opportunity has made its way into my life.   This past summer, I was contacted by the principal of an elementary school and offered a position to teach two science classes for the upcoming school year.  It will be a half-day, everyday job and I’ll have two hour and a half classes of fifth-grade science.  As an added bonus, I’ll have a chance to work with my daughter, who is the new media coordinator at the school.  I’ve done quite a bit of planning and as I said, am very excited about the new opportunity to be in the classroom once again.

So for each season that comes to a close in our lives, there’s another season just beginning.  And I’m reminded that I should be thankful for each one of the opportunities I’ve been given, past or present.  I’ll be exactly where I’m supposed to be, doing exactly what I’m supposed to be doing.  Of that, I am sure.

I am reminded by life’s experiences that change is inevitable.  Whether it’s the weather, relationships,  or a myriad of other life occurrences, things are going to change, whether or not we understand or like them.

Such is the case recently with me and I know the acceptance of things as they are is of utmost importance.  For the past thirty-two years, I’ve been involved in covering high school football on the airwaves in one form or another.  I’ve been a correspondent, traveling to various games, have done play-by-play for the local high school team, and most recently been the host for a post-game show.  It’s just a part of fall Friday nights that have been there for over half my life.

This season will be a bit different though.  I received word this week that the post game show that I’d been doing most recently was going in another direction and that my services would no longer be needed.  Such is the nature of sports coverage and life in general.  I will have to admit it will be a bit strange tonight, the first of the high school football season, but I’m sure I’ll find something to keep me occupied, probably attending my high school’s home opener.

My point in sharing is to be a reminder that change is inevitable in life.   There are many things we take for granted….perhaps some things we even abhor….but they are all a part of the fabric of life.  And whether or not we understand it, whether or not we like it, change is a part of who we are.  New doors can be opened, much grander than those we’ve experienced before.

I am reminded of the words in the Bible from Ecclesiastes 3:1-11

The God-Given Task

⁹ What profit has the worker from that in which he labors? ¹⁰ I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. ¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.

¹² I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, ¹³ and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.

Some of life’s lessons have to be learned the hard way….it would seem to be the only way for the most important ones.

In several life situations, I have found that my priorities don’t always match up with other people’s priorities.  It’s not for me to say where someone else’s focus should be, but when you’ve entered into an agreement with someone and they don’t consider that agreement to be a priority, it’s hard to overlook.

I understand that some people’s lives are much busier than mine.  But when I put a directed effort toward fulfilling an agreement I’ve made and others don’t respond in-kind, it’s difficult to continue to put forth that same effort.  I know I’m powerless over others, but I do need to examine whether it’s in my best interest to continue my involvement with certain people, places, and things.

That’s not to imply that others are wrong and I am right, but the fact is some things in life just don’t work out the way you might have hoped and planned.  When others are inconsistent with following through, perhaps it’s a detour sign telling me to focus my energies in another direction.

So for today, I’ll continue to do the next right thing, look forward to other opportunities, and know that some parts of life no longer serve any beneficial purpose and perhaps were never meant to be what I thought they might.

David Lee

Today marked an important day to remember, my last day teaching in the classroom in 2010.   I really didn’t know what the future would hold for me and now at this point, I can say it’s been quite an adventure.

An important of my retirement has been staying active in the classroom setting.  In the past seven years, I have done eleven interim positions, the longest of which last three-quarters of a school year.  Five of those long-term assignments were for teachers out on maternity leave, including two stints for one teacher.  Each assignment has brought its special challenges, the foremost of which is saying goodbye all over again when the assignment is completed.

I’ve had countless days of substituting for teachers, many of whom I’ve gotten to know quite well, some of which I formerly taught with before retirement.  I have subbed one day in a second grade class, but for the most part have stuck with what I know, upper elementary and middle school.  There are some assignments I remember more than  others, including one where there were no lesson plans, no seating charts, no class rosters.  But for the most part, you know the teacher you’re working for has put a lot of thought into what you’ll be doing that day.

I did take a retirement trip right after leaving the classroom, that period of time when you’re not allowed to work in the school system.  I traveled to six major league baseball games in seven days and thoroughly enjoyed each city we visited.   I’ve also taken shorter trips, mostly to the mountains and of course took my camera along each time.  For the most part, I guess you could say I’m a homebody and I’m certainly OK with that.

I’ve also continued to work at my part-time job during the high school football station, covering local games.  This is a job, like teaching, that has somewhat limited financial rewards, but is certainly something I love doing.  Most recently, my love of photography has landed me a job as a free-lance photographer with the local newspaper, taking pictures of the nightlife in the area.  One of the most fulfilling parts of this job is when I meet up with former students along the way.  Most recently I recognized a student who chose a career in the armed services and is now thirty-seven years old, contemplating his own retirement from the military.

It’s not always easy to know what path life will take.   I wasn’t sure seven years ago and to be honest, I can’t anymore tell you today what the coming years will hold any more than I could then.  But that’s a part of the adventure of life, a life that I’ve learned to take one day at a time…and enjoy.

David Lee

It would seem that we all are in a constantly-changing world…and as the world changes, so do we.   These times of varied changes can fill one’s mind with fear of what might be on the road ahead.  Uncertainty about who we are and the role we are to play is one of the constants that can surround our minds.

In my own life, I have seen many transitions over the past fifteen years.  Not much about my life is the same as it was just a few short years ago.  Married, now divorced and single,,,,living with a family and now living on my own….working at one place for over twenty years, then deciding to leave for another workplace, then finally retiring….living in one home for nearly twenty years, moving, and then moving again….being in several relationships and seeing each of those conclude in one manner or another.  So many things are different – nothing stays the same, at least for very long.

I have many good memories of what’s transpired in the past and yes, some not-so-good ones that I’d just as soon forget, but that provide some of the most valuable life lessons.  I would not have been able to forecast or plan the myriad of changes that have taken place and keep that in mind as I continue to live my life, one day at a time.

My hope is that the days in my past have served some good purpose…that it all works together for good, regardless of how I felt about it at the time.  And when I have those difficult times in the present, I try to keep in mind they too are a part of my life’s journey.

Just some thoughts running through my mind on this day.
David Lee

The Connections and the Miracle of “Being”….

I can remember back to that night that, for whatever the reason, I decided to go to my high school’s basketball game.  I saw a friend who was with his girlfriend and her sisters.  He and I struck up a conversation and before you knew it, we were all talking.  A visit to a park after the game and…well, the rest is history.

As it turns out, I eventually started dating one of those sisters, eventually married her, and now have two adult children and three grandchildren.  From time to time I wonder, “What would have happened,,,or not happened, if I hadn’t decided to go to that basketball game that night?”  Chances are my wife-to-be and I would have never met and certainly wouldn’t have had the years we had together.

If we all think back to that time we met that someone special or anyone else for that matter, we can see how one seemingly small event in our lives caused the rest of our lives to be changed forever.

I also consider the lives of our parents, grandparents, and all our other ancestors for that matter. What if one single event had been different in the lives of our parents and they hadn’t met?  Then, of course, we wouldn’t be here.  You can even turn the clock back a bit further and think about both maternal and paternal grandparents. Where and how did they meet?  Did they make a decision on a particular day that resulted in them meeting one another?  And what about once they decided to spend their lives together?  What if things on a particular day had turned out any differently than it did?

It’s based on these thoughts that I realize it’s a statistical improbability that any of us are even here….and I guess you could, in a manner of speaking, call it a miracle.  All the many things that had to happen just as they did to end up with the outcomes as they were.

And yes, if I hadn’t met that one person, who knows where I might have ended up…but I can’t think of a world without my children and grandchildren, so I’m very thankful it worked out the way it did.

And those are my thoughts on that matter.

David Lee

The Gestalt Prayer

I do my thing and you do yours.

I am not in this world to live up to your expectations and you are not in this world to live up to mine.

You are you and I am I…..and if by chance we find each other, then it is beautiful.

If not, it can’t be helped