Ol' Blue Eyes

There he stood.
Dark pants...
Cream colored shirt...
Matching tie...
Sport Coat hanging in the office behind the door...
Sun shining...
Right hand by his side...
Left hand extended high...
Left palm exposed...
All five fingers fanning out to form a wave...

It was a wave good-bye...for the very last time..

I wonder what was going through my friend Steve Hamlin's piercing blue eyes as he waved
good-bye to those classic Yellow School Buses yesterday that carried
32 years of children that he had helped educate
32 years of teachers that he has mentored, cheered and led since Ronald Reagan was serving his first term as President of the United States of America
32 years of holding the hands of students trying to navigate their way through the public school system
32 years of kids yelling at him, cussing at him, hitting him
32 years of kids smiling at him, making him laugh with their corny jokes
32 years of getting in the car and driving up to a dilapidated home to find a child who was absent from school
32 years of driving a child home from school, long after the buses had left because mom and dad just didn't come and pick up this student
32 years of driving to the ends of the earth to make sure that a child was educated and safely home
32 years of calmly and lovingly looking at a student from across the Principal's desk knowing all along that the child sitting in front of him was just that... a child, a child of God, a child of a broken dysfunctional home in proportions beyond what most of us have experienced and knowing all along what this young person really needed was an adult that would listen and care... I mean really care.
32 years of kids coming back to him years later and saying, "Thank you..."
32 years of school bells
32 years of school lunches
32 years of recess duty
32 years of the school calendar running your life
32 years of the aroma that only a school cafeteria can create
32 years of the sound that only an assembly of kids can create
32 years of encouraging brand new teachers that "Yes, you can do this and Yes it is now time to get back into that classroom and take these kids to a new level."
32 years of his beautiful wife Helena saying at the end of the day, "How was school today?"

Yesterday, the kids waved good-bye to Mr. Hamlin and I cannot help but wonder as Mr. Hamlin waved good-bye to them for the very last time as the Principal, if he wasn't really waving "hello" to the unwritten pages of life called "Chapter 2."

I just wonder...While waving, what was going through those "ol' blue eyes...?"

My iWitness...

What do the eyes see?

What have your eyes seen?

What will your eyes see today that they have seen everyday for the last 32 years?

What will your eyes see for the very first time today?

What will your eyes see on the unwritten pages of Chapter 2 or 22 today?

No matter what your eyes see today, the eyes of the Lord will see you today. Just like they have for the last 32 years, the last 50 years, the last 82 years or the last 17 years.

The beautiful thing about the eyes of God is that they are always waving "hello" and never will they wave "good-bye" to your ol' brown eyes, your ol' green eyes or even your ol' blue eyes...

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and fear not!
David!

"For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him." (2 Chronicles 16. 9)