David Lee

As the time draws near for Lent to begin, I begin to consider what time away from social media will entail.  I’m going to leave a couple of links for those that read the devotionals I post each day.  I also plan on starting to write more and will be sharing those on this website.  The good part about blogging is that it allows sharing of both thoughts and pictures of what I encounter each day.

The first couple of months of this year have involved a lot of ups and downs.  It would seem that nothing is for certain from day to day and perhaps this time away will give me a better perspective on it all.  I know that focusing on one’s self may seem to be selfish to some, but I have found it’s ultimately necessary for me to be able to contribute to others in a meaningful way.

And God only knows (and I mean that literally) what might be waiting around the next corner of my life.  Quietening my mind by staying away from the daily happenings on social media, in particular FB, I think will help me stayed focused on what I need to be doing, with the people I need to be doing it with, at the time and place it’s to be done.

At least that’s my take on it all this day….

David Lee

I’ve made the not-so-difficult decision to stay away from Facebook for Lent this year.  So from March 1 until April 15, there will be no posting of daily readings or pictures I’ve taken. It will also be interesting to see how much extra time is freed up when I’m not constantly checking the news feed to see what everyone else is up to.

I’ve tried this a couple of times before, the latest being in 2010.  Best I can remember, the first week or so was the most difficult….getting out of the habit, especially with my phone.  But after a while, it didn’t seem to really make all that much difference.   I’m expecting this time to be much the same.

I’ll devote my extra time to doing some soul-searching, as well as reading and writing. I’ll still be taking pictures and will be sharing those when I return on Easter Sunday.  Perhaps I’ll even find some new interest that will more than adequately replace the time I spend on FB each day.

We’ll just have to see how it goes.

David Lee

Dave – It’s still a bit hard to believe you’re no longer with us.  The news was quite a shock to say the least.  I was really sorry I didn’t get to attend your memorial service,,,the last day of school is one you just can’t miss – I figured you would understand.

I decided this past Saturday to go visit your grave site to say my good-byes.  I knew it was in Oakwood Cemetery, but had a bit of a hard time finding it.  In my search I saw two birds perched atop a gravestone, so I figured it was a sign I’d eventually come upon it.  Luckily, the man that creates the stones appeared to place markers on other sites.  I told him what I was trying to find and although he had to think for a moment, he soon pointed out exactly where it was located.

And so I said my official good-byes, at least for now.  It’s a bit hard to know exactly what to say, but I spoke of our friendship and it was all from the heart.  I remember first getting to know you in high school and then college.  You always had something interesting to share, whether it was current events or stories of sports teams from long ago.  I recall the time when we both commuted to Lenoir-Rhyne and a snowstorm arrived during one of our classes.  I offered to give you a ride home, but you assured me your vehicle and you would be able to make it home safely, which you did.

I saw your father’s gravestone beside your plot and acknowledged that you were once again together with each other.  Since you were always one interested in things of a historical nature, I noticed that you had died exactly forty-four years and one day after he had passed. I would imagine he was one of the first to greet you when you arrived in your heavenly home.

You were always a person of great courage and I will always remember you as one that never gave up, despite all the obstacles you faced.  You taught me one of life’s most important lessons when it came how to relate to other people.  I began to see you not as a person with a handicap, but as a gifted individual with so many talents to offer the world.  And for that, I will forever be grateful.

Until we meet again my friend,

David 

 

 

 

 

 

It was exactly six years ago today that I taught my last classes as a middle school teacher in the public schools….or at least I thought.  Sure, I had some plans for retirement, but it would seem that the God of my understanding wasn’t so sure I was ready to pack it all in quite yet.  There would be several adventures awaiting that would take me back into the classrooms I loved.

After the six months of required time out of the school setting, I returned to substitute teaching on a day-to-day basis.  The jobs were usually simple and required a minimal amount of preparation.  I got to visit quite a few different schools and of course also subbed at the school I had retired from the year before.

Then came my first opportunity to teach for an extended period as an interim teacher for someone who was going to be out for maternity leave.  I had “just happened” to see the parent of a former student while at a cafe and she was  principal at an elementary school.   She inquired of my availability and after visiting the school, I decided to take that job for a six week period.  Teaching at an elementary school was quite a change from the middle school setting and that experience gave me a whole new respect for teachers of children that age.

There have been since that point in time five more maternity leaves I worked for teachers, all but one of which were in the elementary setting.  Each one presented its own special challenges and I don’t mind saying that when the six weeks was said and done, I was reading for a break.

There was also one situation in which a teacher was going to be out for the first eight weeks of school due to surgery.  I was asked if I would be interested in filling in for this slot until he was able to return.  That job was especially interesting since the students would not be meeting their actual teacher until after the first two months of the school year.  Things went really smoothly in this assignment despite the fact I was suffering from disc problems in my neck and was in almost constant pain.  I would have to admit when the teacher announced his return, it was a bit difficult to give up the class of students I’d gotten to know so well.  But such is the life of an interim teacher.

There have been two cases over the past couple of years in which I served in interim positions that have been what I could best term “beyond the call of duty.”  The first one was at the middle school I had retired from five years previous.  A teacher was retiring from teaching at the end of October and the principal needed someone to work for nine weeks until mid-year college graduation, when another teacher could and would be hired. Well that nine weeks came and went without a replacement being found, so I finished out the final eighteen weeks as well.

This past school year I once again served a maternity leave for the same teacher I had filled in for on my first.  It was the six week period right before Christmas  break and I figured the rest of the school year would be spent subbing a day here and there.  Turns out I was wrong.

I received a call from a middle school principal saying that he needed an eighth grade science and social studies teacher for the second half of the school year.  I had not previously worked at this school, so I had to think about it a while longer and then finally decided to take the job.  It was a position  filled with many challenges, but I persevered and just last week taught my second consecutive “last day of school.”  Once again it was time to retire.

If you would have told me six years ago at my retirement that I would be spending the better part of the past two years back in the classroom teaching full time, I would have questioned your sanity.  But that is exactly the way it has played out.  While my current plans are just to substitute from day-to-day for the upcoming school year, you never know quite what might be in the road ahead.

Just one of the things in my life that always seems to remain the same.

 

David Lee

 

 

I recently downloaded a Facebook app that allows you to see who has “unfriended” you and perhaps even blocked you in the process.  While some of them come as no big surprises, there have been several that come as a shock.  I understand that social media friendships are different from “real” friendships in many respects, but perhaps they do give some insight into real life.

The way my mind works is quite peculiar.  I have self-diagnosed myself with Attention Deficit Disorder and perhaps even that is just a cop-out for have a disorganized mind and cluttered life.  People that I once interacted with on a daily basis can and do fade into the background as time progresses.   People that I see in person can do much the same, but I’ve found it to be more unlikely.

So there they drop, one by one, with the notification from the app that I’ve been unfriended.  I’ll usually check back to see what messages we’ve shared, since most of them are not within traveling distance.  And in several of these instances, there have been messages they’ve sent that were not returned….sometimes two or three.  My cluttered mind perhaps saw the messages when they first appeared, but for some reason or another, I hadn’t responded.

Perhaps social media itself has become a bit too much. My claim to 3,541 “friends” is a gross exaggeration to how many people I really know.  I continue to post two messages each day to give experience, strength, and hope to others suffering through difficult times and as reminders of where I’ve been in life.  Perhaps I need to close it out after doing so and call it a day. Just maybe there are people in real life that I need to be connecting or reconnecting with…I just can’t be sure.

Being self-centered, I also realize that the “unfriending” may very well have nothing to do with me.  It could just be that they’re deleting friends that they no longer interact with and are trying to thin out their lists.  Perhaps it would do me some good to follow suit and do the same.

So to the friends that have unfriended me, I offer a humble apology and realizing you most likely will never see this post, wish you nothing but the best.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 – “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.”

I’m not exactly sure of the year, but sometime around 1980 I made a purchase that defied explanation.  I had seen her several times and admired her, not thinking that she was available.  And then that day came; a “For Sale” sign appeared on her windshield.  I passed by several more times, thinking that the price was probably much too steep.  I finally stopped by to give her a closer look and fell even more deeply in love.  I decided to inquire exactly what amount of money it would take to gain ownership of the blue beauty.

The owner was a well-known realtor in town, who also happened to have a love for classic cars.  I asked to take a test drive and was amazed at the power and ease of the ride.  When I inquired about how much the vehicle would cost, he stated $750.  I had saved up some money from my part time job and decided that it would indeed be mine.  When I returned from the bank with the cash and told him I would pay for it in full, he reduced the price to $500.  A quick trip to get the title transferred and she was all mine.

She was manufactured in the same year I was conceived – 1958.  She was Carolina Blue in color and in remarkably excellent shape for a car of that age. The car was built in an era where the chrome was a prominent addition.  Although I had a primary car to drive, she quickly became my favorite mode of transportation.

Now there were those, who shall remain nameless, that didn’t particularly care for her appearance.  Some would dare to call her a “clunker” or a “Batmobile.”  But to me she was a rare beauty.  The large steering wheel and spacious interior were just two of the features that had won over my heart.

And then came that fateful night….snow-covered roads and those that had braved the elements.  I was working at my job when the snow began falling and by the time I was able to leave, it had covered much of the road.  I was stopped at an intersection in the middle of town, in front of the fire station where the fireman gazed at the falling snow from a second story window.

It was like it happened in slow motion through the falling snow,,,,one car sliding through the intersection, hitting another.  That car then headed straight towards me and there was nothing to be done but brace for the impact.  The damage had been done; she would be driven no more.  Thinking back on that night and seeing the damage done to the other vehicles involved, I have no doubt her bulky mass had prevented me from being injured. She was eventually towed to a family owned home and sat there for several more years before I finally sold her for parts.

In the years that followed, I tried my luck with other classic cars, but never quite had the same feeling about them that I had with her.  I remember the day of the accident I had just received a personalized license tag that said “’58 Olds”.  Perhaps it was a sign of the tragedy that would occur later that evening, I will never be sure.

From time to time, I’ll see a picture of a similar car of that era….very few are actually on the road these days.  But she was indeed my first classic car love and the memories of her I’ll always keep.

David Lee 

I recently enjoyed a week-long trip to the North Carolina mountains to enjoy the scenery and get away for a while.  I normally stay at the same quaint motel and decided this time would be no exception.  The twelve rooms were tucked into a small corner of the town and the time I spent there was both quiet and enjoyable.

Upon my arrival, I was given the room key on a green key fob that simply bore the number “11.”  I usually requested room twelve, but it had already been taken by a couple visiting from Australia.  So room eleven it would be.

On the last full day of my adventure, the sun was scheduled to rise at 7:16 a.m.  I decided early on that morning to go the the nearby Blue Ridge Parkway to try to get some pictures.  Although it was quite chilly that morning, the decision to go was a good one.  After warming myself with a large cup of coffee, I headed out and got some really scenic pictures of the sun rising.

I continued my journey afterwards, venturing to several small nearby towns to see the sights and get some more shots.  When I finished the sixty mile round-trip, I was disheartened to find that I couldn’t locate the room key.  I searched in my car and it was nowhere to be found.  Thinking I had perhaps left it in the room, I got an extra key from the innkeeper and scoured the room looking for it.   No key was to be found.

After pondering awhile, I figured the only solution was to retrace my steps and see if I had dropped it somewhere.  I was thinking one of the several shops I had visited would perhaps have had someone turn it in to them.  The first stop that day was at an overlook to get the sunrise pictures.  I really didn’t think it would be there, but thought that was the most logical place to start.  All the while, I kept a positive frame of mind, knowing that keys just didn’t float into thin air.  But I also realized my chances of finding it weren’t that great.

Upon arriving at the overlook, I examined the ground on the area I had walked and it was nowhere to be found.  I then remembered I had crossed the road over to the other side to get some early morning pictures from there.  Imagine my pleasant surprise to see the green key fob emblazoned with the number 11 that was attached to my room key.  I breathed a huge sigh of relief with the realization that I wasn’t going to have to retrace all of the many stops I had taken that day.

Best I can figure, I had dropped the key out of my pocket while taking pictures that morning.  I’m still not quite sure how that happened, but it certainly did.  Someone else on the trail that day must have seen it and wanted to make sure the owner got it back.  But the fob didn’t contain the name of the motel, only the room number.  So this person decided to leave it there, on a rock where the person who had lost it would easily see it.

I’ll never know who it was that found the key and placed it on the rock that day….All I know is that I was so very grateful that whoever it was had decided to be of good nature and place it where it would be easily seen.  They must have, in some way, known the person that had lost it, in this case me, would return to try to find it.

There are times in life when we lose things of value to us…perhaps it’s a key or card of some sort….or just perhaps it’s a person that was an important part of our lives.  We can go in search of those things lost and may or may not find them along the way.  But I know for certain that if I hadn’t taken the action to find the key that day, I wouldn’t have found it.  I had to keep the faith that I might just find it and all the while realize it might be lost forever.  Such is life.

David Lee

It was a little over five years ago, June 14, 2010, that I taught what I thought was my last class in a public school.  I had carefully considered my options and decided that it was time to look at other options, or so at least I thought.

I took off the mandatory six months before even considering substitute teaching.  It wasn’t long after that when I started taking one day sub jobs at several schools.  Although I did enjoy the variety of assignments, it still wasn’t like being in the classroom full time.

One summer day I received a call from an elementary principal wanting to know if I’d be interested in an interim position for a teacher that would be out on maternity leave the following school year.  I decided to take the position and enjoyed the six weeks that I spent with her class. It was a bit more involved that the regular sub jobs I had gotten used to, but then again there was always that light at the end of the tunnel.

That interim for a maternity leave was followed by five other such offerings.  Three of those were for maternity leaves, one for a teacher out for eight weeks at the beginning of the school year due to surgery, and the latest, a teacher that had decided to retire at the end of the third month of school (which, by the way, was supposed to be a nine week interim that became a rest-of-the-school-year, twenty-seven week assignment).

Each of those interim assignments carried with them the responsibility for teaching on a regular basis, the same as I had when I worked full time.  There were papers to be graded, parent conferences to be held, faculty meetings to attend.  I still felt like a substitute teacher in many respects, but considered myself more of an interim teacher than anything else.

I’m currently preparing to complete my seventh and eighth interim assignments…the first is a six day job for a teacher that will be having surgery, the second a maternity leave assignment for the same teacher I did the first one.  I’m looking forward to both assignments, especially given the fact that the first is at the school I retired from and the second at the same elementary school where my daughter teaches.

The bottom line is that although I chose to retire five years ago, I’ve still remained active in the teaching profession. I nearly neglected to mention the interim position I held at the local community college for six weeks one summer. I feel like I’m being led to what I’m destined to do with my life.  This extends far beyond my chosen profession, but it clearly offers the most concrete example.  The same can  be said for personal and familial relationships.

I ask God each day to give me the guidance, wisdom, and strength to do those things He would have me to do.  I have developed a faith to know that if I stay connected to Him, things will be exactly as they are supposed to be. Yes, there are some detours I’ve had to take….some roads that appeared to be on the right track that eventually closed.  But even those are following the words of Jeremiah 29:11 – “For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord; ‘Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans for a future and hope.”

Today is the second consecutive day of staying away from the world of Facebook.  I had decided that I was spending way too much of my waking day glued to the computer or FB phone app, so I decided to start weening myself from it.  Yesterday morning after I had posted my two inspirational readings for the day, I vowed not to log on again for the remainder of the day.

I multiple times was scrolling across my cell phone screen and very nearly keyed the FB icon…several times I started to hit the bookmarked tab on my computer.  But each time I reminded myself of the pledge I had made at the beginning of the day and followed through with staying away.

The phone icon didn’t help matters a lot, with the number inside the orange circle telling me how many notifications had gone unnoticed…climbing ever so slowly from five to ten to the eventual thirty-one I had received by day’s end.  My mind played all types of tricks on me in attempt to get me to give in:  “What if it’s a really important FB email from a friend that needs my immediate attention?” I would ask myself.

I found as the day went on that the desire to log in to my FB account got less and less. It was finally around seven p.m. that I reasoned I was going to be able to fulfill my pledge and not log in for the day.  I had made it through the first day without accessing that social media account.

I will admit that I checked in to my Instagram account and did post several pictures…I even look at Pinterest and created a few pins there, but for the most part I was able to stay away from social media for the day.

Now I’ve made it half-way through the second day of my self-imposed FB sanction.  I see the notifications are starting to build – I have ten thus far.  And I really wanted to take a picture of my granddaughter at lunch to post to my page,,,but the temptation was not enough to make me go back on my word.

You never truly realize how much of a stronghold something or someone has on you until you consciously decide to do without it for a while.  I’m thinking this will get easier as time goes on and that I’ll be able to use that time formerly spent in the alternate reality world of social media to do something much more productive.  For right now, I’m just getting used to doing without.

David Lee

Risk Being Alive 

“I know nothing is going to last forever,” Charlie said. “But the key to life and being happy is acting as though it is.”

Many of us have had our illusions about security and permanency shattered.  The longer we’re alive, the more it gets beat into us that nothing is forever.  We can plan on many things, but the only thing we can plan on with any certainty is change.

At some time in our lives, we may have convinced ourselves otherwise.   We surrendered ourselves to that job, that project, or that relationship with all our hearts, only to have it crash to an end.

Some of us may have decided, after enough cycles of beginnings, middles, and endings, that the way to deal with this was never to fully give our hearts to any person or circumstance, never to let ourselves fully be present and enjoy the moment.

If I don’t get it completely, I won’t get hurt when it ends, we think.  Maybe.  But you won’t experience the pleasure and joy, the rick, sweet, full taste of those moments, either.

Okay, so you’re wiser now.  You know nothing lasts forever.  You know the moment something begins, the ending has already been written, too.  People are born.  They die.  A job or project begins.  Then it ends.  But there’s an entire luscious middle waiting, inviting you to jump in fully and see how sweet life can be.  Besides, when the ending does come, you’ll also have been given enough wisdom, courage, and grace to deal with that too.

What are you waiting for?  Go ahead…. Stop holding back…Jump in…Love your life.

 

From “More Language of Letting Go” by Melody Beattie