God is faithful!

So I'm laying here trying to figure out how to convey all that has happened this summer as the miracle that it is and I realize that I can't. There is no way for me to express to you just how impossible all the pieces were to fit together without the work of a miraculous God.  But I will try ...

At the very end of April, I had my very first real-job interview. It was for an English as a Second Language (ESL) position at a little charter school called New Hope Academy. I had done some research on the school before I applied and was extremely impressed with its philosophies, vision and mission. I rocked the first interview. I don't know how, but I did. The principal was extremely impressed, but I never heard anything from them.

At the beginning of the summer, I had probably applied to over 50 positions all over the country. Filling out applications was my day job. That and waitressing. I had a few more interviews here and there, but none as good as that first one. One day while at work, I received a voicemail. Upon checking it I found that it was New Hope once more, now interested in interviewing me for an English position. Apparently the ESL position had put on hold. I went to the English interview and blew it. I knew that my answers were not what they were looking for and on the way home I just knew that was not the position I would be getting. The letter came in the mail two days later.

I continued on my journey of applying and interviewing. I received an offer in Texas (which you can read about in my previous post). I went back and forth trying to make a decision, but finally chose to decline the offer. At that point it was August and school was starting in about two weeks. I had finally received my English certificate, but my clearances were out of date and my ESL certificate was put on hold from the state. Frantically, I began putting pieces in motion to rectify those final elements, but I knew it could take a while.

Out of the blue, I get a call for an interview at New Hope Academy once more. The ESL position was back on track. I showed up an hour early because I had the times mixed up and when I finally went back at the correct time, I ran into teachers and administrators who were cheering me on in the position. I finally met the head of the school and had a pleasant interview, but I still didn't have my ESL certification.

I spent the next day with my phone glued to my hand waiting for a phone call. I was so sure that I was going to get the position. Five o'clock came and there was no phone call. I took a nap and woke up only slightly less depressed than when I fell asleep. I decided then and there two things:
1. I was going to get on all the sub lists that I could in hopes of next year getting a position
2. I was going to thank God anyway, despite the circumstances

I spent all weekend waitressing and praising God. I realized that God is still good even if things do not go the way I want them too. I had been listening to a song called "Thank You" by 33 Miles and that was the message behind it. So I began praising and thanking him anyway ... and applying to substitute.

Monday rolled around and I turned in some subbing applications after finally receiving my last clearance. My dad suggested that I call New Hope just to touch base because I hadn't heard from them. I called and the principal said they had made an offer to their first choice. I cried the whole way home (I was running errands). I finally opened up to God. I told him I was tired of not being the first choice, of not being the special one, but that I accepted it because I knew he has a perfect plan. Despite my tears, despite my pain, I trusted that God was leading me in the way he wanted me to go.

Tuesday I continued to keep the ball rolling. I received an email telling me that my ESL certification had been approved. After so many years of working toward becoming certified, I finally saw it happen. I praised God and thanked him for his faithfulness.

Wednesday rolled around and I prepared the remainder of my substitute applications. I just needed the results of my TB test the next day and then I was planning to drop off the application packets at various local districts. 3pm came and I started getting ready for work. My phone rang "You Lead" by Jamie Grace, my tone for any number not stored in my contacts. New Hope Academy offered me a position. I was shocked, but completely at peace. God had lead me to that place and I knew it wholeheartedly. Everything had just fallen into place in the nick of time. ESL cert., clearances, TB test and a ready and willing heart.

Even recounting it, I can't put it all into words, and yet I am still amazed at all God did to bring me to this place. Tomorrow afternoon I begin my journey on the New Hope staff. I am overjoyed and so excited. God is so good! Even when my faith falters, he is always faithful!

Be encouraged, friends!

Everything is bigger in Texas ...

... the cars, the roads, the decisions and especially the sky.

This summer I've been on a journey of finding the right first job of my teaching career. I've spent countless hours and reams of paper writing essays, filling out questionnaires and mailing a very basic summary of myself to districts in Pennsylvania and other states in our nation. I've had a total of 15 interviews (2 more to be added by the end of the week) and one job offer ... that I turned down.

On a Tuesday afternoon I got a call from a principal in Texas City, Texas that I had a phone interview with a few weeks earlier. He was offering me an English and ESL position in his high school. He gave me until Friday to make up my mind and so I began to contemplate the idea of moving to Texas. I was determined to take the job ... until I began discussing it with my family.
The next day I came home from a doctor appointment and my dad told me to be ready in half an hour to head to DC to fly to Texas. I was still coming out of the anesthesia, but agreed. We flew out of Dulles that evening. With a brief stop-over in North Carolina, we made it to Houston around 11 where the heat of the day was still evident in the evening breeze.

The next morning in the shower I was hit with just how crazy it all seemed. My family, friends, my life was all back in Pennsylvania and here I was debating a move to the other part of the country. I met with the principal and other staff members in the midst of apartment hunting. I came out extremely torn. I loved the school and staff, and the thought of my own classroom was both exciting and frightening at the same time. Dad and I searched for one more place, but before we found it, I made my decision: Texas wasn't for me. We spent the rest of the day seeing the sights and enjoying some delicious Tex-Mex. We were back on a plane by 11am the next day.

Back in Lancaster, I keep thinking back to my time, about how it could have been different, if maybe I gave up to quickly, but I'm confident that I made the right choice for me now.
I thought now was the time to make a jump -- to do the crazy adventure thing -- but not just yet. Someday I hope to take that leap of faith, someday when I have someone to do it with me. Until then, I'll find little adventures in this part of the country. I did however learn two important things on this little excursion:

I thrive on the support and company of those I love and I'm okay with that.
and
The sky is a thousand times bigger in Texas.