The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
The Best New Year's Resolution
Dear Editor:
Yogi Berra said when we come to a fork in the road, take it. Since he did not tell us which fork, God can.
To illustrate this point, this is my autobiography (don't you hate articles that deal mainly with I's and me's- is that some saying they don't give a rat's rump about my life history)?
After graduating from college and not having the grades to get into Veterinary School, a fork in the road appeared.
Teaching was the last thing I wanted to do. However, sometimes you take the job available and I started teaching all the science courses and coaching all the sports in a small Nebraska high school.
Twenty years and twenty million "don't do's" and "be quiet's" later, there was one completely burned out and ineffective school teacher.
It is admirable to see some people who have the personalities and abilities to deal with today's youth.
It definitely requires an outgoing, patient personality who can sell his/her subject matter and maintain the enthusiasm and interest that builds respect and rapport with teenagers.
Being bull-headed, it took 20 years to understand the signs God and some humans were trying to show me.
Clarence Neff helped with the next fork in the road in becoming an adjudicator for Social Security Disability.
It was a challenging job requiring considerable medical knowledge. The big drawback was being away from family all week. Two years later, it was time for a new fork.
After a couple of jobs in the printing business, I applied for 26 state jobs including chemist, EPA, meat and fire inspectors, etc.
You qualify for state jobs by your transcripts and taking tests (there were 23 A's and 3 B's). One of the B's and probably the job for which I was least qualified was social work.
A local opening for social worker came up first. Although it was somewhat stressful in dealing with abused and neglected children and families, it was the job that was most satisfying because you definitely felt that you were making a worthwhile contribution.
I believe God guided me to that job, just as He guided me to the choice of a wife.
Some believe God has a master plan for each of us and He knows exactly which forks we should take in our life, but He leaves the choices for us.
We actually have three forks: we can follow the devil and go straight to hell; we can use our own or other human judgment and sometimes be right, but often wrong; or we can seek God's guidance.
We will still make some human mistakes because we misinterpret some of His signs, but we will generally be right.
The best New Year's resolution we can make is in letting God guide our lives and this involves never forgetting the power of prayer.
Weyman George
Macomb