This summer God put it heavy on my heart to go back into
teaching. I didn’t know how He was going to do it. I didn’t know where He was
going to use me. I didn’t know if this would be a year to get my foot in the
door or would be a full on leap into education. Honestly, I didn’t care. I was
willing to do whatever it was He needed me to do. It has been a really
difficult path. After a couple of months of no leads, I stepped up my game and
fasted from coffee until I got a job. Have you ever given up coffee for an
EXTENED period of time with no end in sight? Sometimes I wasn’t sure which was
worse, craving coffee or not having peace about where this job thing was going.
Let me tell you, there was a whole lot of praying going on. All I could do from
the time I woke up until lunch was pray. After a few weeks of that and still
not having any clarification on what I was supposed to, I put it out on Facebook
to help get leads. I applied for every school district around me. I watched the
websites like a hawk. I cold-emailed dozens and dozens of principals. I got a
couple of really good leads from the Facebook post, but nothing panned out.
Every time something looked promising, it fell through. So Friday morning (you
know, yesterday) I woke up so bummed that on Monday teachers go back to school
and I hadn’t gotten a job. I wasn’t disappointed in God, just sad that it
hadn’t worked out quite like I hoped. I thought long and hard, and had a cup of
coffee. Yes, a cup of coffee. I didn’t feel like I was giving up on God per
say, more just moving my hope from “NOW NOW I WANT THIS NOW” to “Okay, well,
just let me know what to do next whenever you can since clearly now isn’t the
time.” Still not one to sit around and
twiddle my thumbs, I went ahead and started cold-emailing the same principals
from a couple of months previous, while sipping my terrible coffee because apparently I'd forgotten how to make a good cup. I didn’t know what else to do. I was hoping
at this point in the year I could snag a kinder position that came up due to
late enrollments. One principal emailed me back immediately. She said she
didn’t have a kinder position that would be available, but she did have two
special ed aide positions available. I immediately responded that I would love
to visit with her about them. (okay
okay, after I called my mommy) She had me come in Friday afternoon at 1:00 for
an interview. She had me come back at 3:30 to meet the team. She emailed me at
5:45 to offer me the job. Yep. In less than 12 hours I went from despondent to
“holy-crap-did-that-just-happen-I-start-on-Wednesday?!” Have I ever done
special ed? No. Did I ever think I would be a “paraprofessional”? No. But this
school seems amazing. I could not feel more blessed than getting to join this
family, no matter the role. And I think working with special ed kids is going
to change me for the oh-so-much better. Praise Jesus for His provisions. My God
is patient with me even when I throw temper tantrums and pity parties. He is
gentle and kind and I am forever grateful that He calls me His own precious
daughter. Frisco’s Carroll Elementary…here I come!
(here's how we all feel about it)
