Happy New Year! It is 7:10am and we just got off the phone with our pregnant daughter-in-law / son and their son. They live in Japan. So, it is 12:10am in Japan and their 2022 has already started.
I will make this short. I want you to read it.
There are going to be firsts for all of us. That is one of the “benefits” of a new year.
This will be the first time since January 1989 I go into a year without a job! At FIFTY-FIVE YEARS-OLD! Talk about a first! There will be other firsts, but this first is the first-of-all-firsts!
As you know, I chose this (leave public education in California) to be the first-of-all-firsts and I encourage you to read the prior blog article to have a better understanding why I chose to leave public education in California.
So, how do I feel? Depends on the time of day. Right now? I feel great. My wife has agreed with me to give me from December 23, 2021-to-January 31, 2022, time to enjoy a taste of retirement! We have a great week of January 10th planned: watch NCAA football championship; January 11-13 go to Bodega Bay and experience a FIRST: two-nights in a home through VRBO; and then, with a friend I have had since 1989, I play golf on January 14! That week would have been the first week of the Spring Semester.
Then, after getting all hyped for that awesome January 10-14, I get scared about the journey of finding a job, let alone a job that I am going to enjoy! I turn that fear into “faith-over-fear.” I encourage you to do the same.
- Philippians 4:13 — I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.
- 1 Peter 5:10 — After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you
- Romans 16:15 — Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past,
- 2 Thessalonians 2:17 — comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.
- 2 Timothy 4:17 — But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was rescued out of the lion’s mouth.
On February First, I begin to look for my first job NOT as a teacher. I look forward to seeing what that will be like. It’s been over thirty years since I have looked for a job that is not being a teacher.
February 2022, we look forward to welcoming our second grandson into this world. His name is Wyatt. Looking forward to the first time I get to hold and kiss Wyatt.
By the end of 2022, our son, daughter-in-law, their sons are supposed to return to the United States. PJ has chosen to stay in the Navy for another five years! I look forward to the first hugs and kisses with all of them.
There are more firsts to share with you and I will. Not now. Told ya. I want you to read this.
What is great about a new year? The firsts! Make the most of your firsts, including January 1, 2022. WE GET TO HAVE JUST ONE OF THOSE – January 1, 2022! I hope you are looking forward to firsts in your life!
Thank you very much for all the wonderful support you have given me throughout 2021, especially since December 22, 2021. Since the announcement of my early retirement / in the middle of the school year, the supportive messages are all a salve for the “thousand cuts” and reminders of all the firsts I enjoyed as a teacher for over thirty years. My students mean a lot to me. One positive thing about FACEBOOK (and there are few) is seeing my students be incredible adults! LOVE that part of FACEBOOK. I will miss them, as well, as all my colleagues on and off campus.
Do all you can to make 2022 not as good as 2021, but better than 2021! (For many folks that “wish” is not asking for too much 🙂
Here is a verse to pray on for the start of 2022:
- Proverbs 3:5-6 — Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. (Go “Old School”)
HAPPY 2022! CHEERS.