Sitting in geometry at Centralia High School back in 1980, Kevin leaned over to me and showed me an 8 x 10 picture he had taken of a girl I really liked.

“Ten bucks and it’s yours,” he said.

I really wanted a picture of her, but not for 10 bucks.

“Forget it Kevin,” I said. “I’ll sign up for the photography class and take my own pictures.”

I did and later this hobby turned into my business of now more than 25 years, Weaver Photography.

I was working registration in 1984 at Ozark Christian College where I attended, it was a typical cold January day. The girl in high school never quite worked out, and I wasn’t sure I’d ever meet a girl or get married. Quite frankly, I had given up on the dating scene.

Then in walked a transfer student from Jacksonville, Fla., to register for second semester. I had given up and wasn’t really looking and bam … there she was Laura McMillan, now my wife of 22 years.

December 1973, I was in fourth grade and started an evergreen Christmas wreath business. It continued until 1993, twenty years of a very profitable business. It wasn’t uncommon for me to take home around $5,000 for around four weeks work during my high school and college years.

April 1989, I had been working to purchase a photography business back home near Seattle for more than six months. The deal fell through. I would graduate with bachelors’ from OCC and a business degree from Missouri Southern in about one month.

There was one small problem; I had no job and no place to go.

Two days later I found out the Koinonia director’s job at Southern was open. I had no experience with campus ministry and the other four finalists were so much more qualified than me. I had no chance at this job, but they hired me anyway. I had no idea what I was doing, but after 18 years of being director of Koinonia, the Lord has blessed me with being a small part in the lives of hundreds of Southern students.

It was fall semester 2006 at Southern. My wife and I found out we’re having a baby Nov. 1.

We were shocked, so were our children ages 12, 14 & 16. Now that our son is five months old I couldn’t begin to tell you how blessed we are.

A friend asked, “Dave, do you know how old you will be when he graduates?”

“Sixty,” I said, “But you know what? Even if we had not had the baby, at that exact same point in time, I would have still been 60.”

Then school started last fall and out of nowhere I had the opportunity to teach two oral communication courses as an adjunct at Southern.

It was so much fun to work with a great faculty and group of students. I also found one more thing I really enjoyed doing.

John Lennon said in one of his songs, “Life is what happens to you when you’re busy making other plans.” Perhaps that is true of my life. God opened doors I had never considered and by faith I stepped through those doors to see what they were about. My life has been a blast, even though so much of it didn’t go as planned.

Steve Jobs, in his 2005 commencement address to Stanford University, said, “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice.”

As we wrap up this school year, it has been a joy to get to know many of you during my time at Southern. Some of the best things in life find us when we least expect it. Spend time looking for the good things in life and you will find them.