When I think about unexpected blessings, I think about Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Being an educator was not my first choice. It was God’s choice.  It was His Kingdom's choice for me.  You see, when you seek the kingdom of God, you run into phrases such as, “Thy will be done.”  My will sent me to Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas with the expectation of becoming a television personality! Yet, when I put my trust in God and I declared, “not my will but Yours be done” I was no longer in control but in the front seat of an amazing ride. Time and service in public education were about to show me a slew of unexpected blessings.

As a teacher, I was able to see the manifold needs of students, especially in urban schools. There is no secret that urban schools lack many things suburban schools have. Yet, one thing I wanted to provide for my students while I was in the classroom was the gift of stability and a steadfast relationship they could depend on. Imagine being in the fifth grade and coming into the school day with so many uncertainties–What will we eat today? Will the lights be on when we get back home? Who will be at home when we get there? These are the questions my scholars had to ask themselves before walking into the classroom. I would imagine that the toughest part of coming to school was to mentally combat daily, monthly, and yearly life obstacles before they could engage in the learning activities of the school day.

When I saw these struggles with our students, I felt as if I could do more to make a difference because things were not changing fast enough for these students. I decided to go into administration to increase my platform and get one step closer to changing the educational situation for students in urban settings. Again, “Thy will be done” or mine? “Thy will be done” will cause you to patiently sit down with God for witty ideas from the Holy Spirit.  Hint:  Don’t expect the status quo. After all, we’re sitting in the presence of the Lord God Almighty, the Wise Counselor, and the Creator and Maker of all things. What we should expect is an inward as well as an outward refashioning of solutions and ideas that will truly work alongside faith, hope, and love. 

The work we do was never meant to be easy. Yet, the Word says, “All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty” (Proverbs 14:23). Hard work is getting harder in education but by the word of God we can expect a profit.  Laziness, sluggishness, nor dallying spirits must be removed from within our natural man to get to the profit. What does profit look like?

I have been able to gain and deposit throughout my career smiles on faces, support on a dreary day, and long-lasting skills to change the world. I rejoice when I see the celebrations of the underdog! Of course, I’m going for more until I see what I saw in the Hebrew boys:

…young men (and women, insert mine) without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace (Daniel 1:4).

This is my prayer, thus this is my hope!  One thing is for certain, God has to do the greater work.  With the Lord Jesus on my side, I can walk and/or crawl it out until the end of the school year!

At the end of the day, there is no secret in the education profession to happiness or love your job. I am living in my purpose and that’s what makes me happy. I make it a daily habit to fulfill scriptures that encourage me such as, “Commit to the Lord in whatever you do, and he will establish your plans” (2 Thessalonians 3:10-12). Each day I walk into work knowing God is going to make everything okay, God is going to take me to a new level, and God is going to elevate my influence.  

This is the most precious influence of the day.  I got to talk to a parent whose kid was in my class when I was a first-year teacher. He is a basketball player that is working to be in the NBA. I was able to coach him as a fifth-grade student and always saw myself in him. The parent said to me, “Mr. Lee, you have been the biggest, unexpected blessing that could have happened to our family. You made our son see the value in education before sports and now he is thriving in high school.” This made me reflect upon and cherish those unexpected blessings.  YOu, with Christ in you, will be someone’s unexpected blessing. “So, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God ( 1 Corinthians 10:31)