The Speech

The following is a transcript of a speech I gave today in chapel at our school. It is probably one of the hardest speeches I have ever had to give.


Students and Teachers,

As I stand here this morning, I feel like I have a divided heart. I feel like a tug of war battle is going on inside of me. On the one side, I feel very excited and confident about the Lord’s provision and guidance for me and my family. On the other side, pulling in the opposite direction so to speak, there is a feeling of intense sadness—sadness because I know that God’s direction in my life means that my time as a teacher here at LCCA is almost over.

On this past March 6th, my wife and I decided together before the Lord that we would accept an offer of employment that had been given to us by South Merrimack Christian Academy in Merrimack, New Hampshire. This is a good school that is connected to the church that my wife and her family have been part of for quite a few years. Our plans are to finish this school year here at LCCA as normally as possible, and then, on or around the last weekend in June, to move to our new home in New Hampshire.

I know this announcement may come as quite a shock to many of you. I won’t take time here in chapel to go into a lengthy explanation, but let me just tell you that this decision comes after many months of prayer and consideration. For some time now, my wife and I have sensed a stirring in our hearts about living and working closer to our family. We have submitted our thoughts and desires to the Lord the best we know how, and have told Him that we are willing to do whatever He wants us to. We are confident that this move to NH is a good and right decision for us as a family.

Now, I know that I have just dropped a bombshell on your day, but I do have a few things that I feel I need to say, so I am asking you to please listen very carefully to these statements.

First, I want you each to know that this was not an easy decision by any means. In fact, it was probably one of the hardest decisions my wife and I have ever made. We have grown quite attached to all of you, and it was very difficult to think about leaving. When we were first offered the job in NH, the administrator of the school there asked us to pray about it for two weeks—that is exactly what we did for two weeks and even a few days more. We prayed, and talked, and sought counsel, and discussed, and mentally wrestled with this decision. We did not take it lightly in any way, and we now know this is what we should do.

Secondly--and I want this part especially to stick in your minds. When you tell your parents about this later today, I want you to mention this part in particular. The fact that we are leaving is not the result of anything negative. Mr. West and I are good friends, and we have not had any sort of disagreement or “falling out.” He has mixed emotions, of course, because he would like for us to stay, but he has been very gracious and supportive since I first talked to him about it. I respect him highly and I have enjoyed working for him. I will also say the same about Pastor Dennis. I respect him, and have been impacted by his ministry here at the church and school. Let me say it again, we are not leaving because of any sort of negative incident or because of any person here. We simply believe this is what we are to do.

Thirdly, I want you all to know that I love you. I know that might sound a little weird, but it is true. I have tried to show you my love and concern over the last three years by being the teacher, counselor, coach, director, and friend that you have needed. I haven’t always been exactly what I should have been, I know, but I can honestly say I have tried my best. I know you might not agree with or like my decision to leave, but please don’t ever doubt the fact that I care deeply about you and I want God’s best for each of you. It might sound like an overused phrase, but LCCA will always hold a special place in my mind and heart.

Speaking of that, the last thing I want to say is this—I am still interested in hearing about you all and the school here. It won’t be quite the same as being here day in and day out, I know, but I would love to maintain contact with any of you who want to. Many of you know that I have a blog that I update periodically. All of you are welcome to visit that blog and leave comments there if you want to. Of course there’s always things like email, snail mail, and texting—well, maybe not texting. I’m a terrible texter. Seriously, I want to hear about what’s going on around here. I definitely want someone to contact me next August when the gold team finally wins the Mighty Plunger at Camp Peniel! I also want to hear about the progress and spiritual growth you are achieving as you continue through school. It is very important to me to hear from you all, so please don’t hesitate to write if you want to.

My wife and Eldan could not be here today, but they want you to know that they love you and will miss all of you a bunch. Like I said at the beginning, our hearts our pulled in two different directions. We are excited about the future, but we are very sad to leave.

Well, I’m basically finished. If any of you want to talk to me personally about this, I would be glad to do that. My hope now is that we can continue to move toward the end of the school year as normally as possible—although I know it will be a little weird. Thank you for listening to me, thank you for welcoming me in over the last three years, thank you for taking all of those notes in class, and thank you letting me be your teacher and your friend.

Just remember, for those who have heaven as their final destination, there is no such thing as a “goodbye”, it is always “see you later.”