A year in perspective

Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit"; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that" (James 4:13-15)

At this time last year, my post-retirement career was coming together. I had just finished completed a food safety manager course. And my first summer job since high school was in the bag.

From the perspective of a new retiree with a lucrative 24-hour per week job in Sacramento, life couldn't have been better.

I was about to fulfil my life-long dream of working at a summer camp. Working part-time for my old employer would sustain me during the year. Then in early June I'd head for the high country and run the camp kitchen for the summer.

But as often happens in life, factors outside your personal control shape your life and career. In my case, it was the state's budget crisis that blew my plans apart -- ironic for a former budget analyst.

In the end, God blessed me with a comfortable job, one where I practice my craft of cooking each day without the worries of management - as I did for over 11 years -- or the eye poppin' experience of gazing at Excel spreadsheets all day.

While I had to give up my 24-hour workweek, I am doing something that I love -- cooking. I'll delay my return to the camp kitchen by two or three years. The time will go quickly because I'm doing something that I love.