So you may be thinking, WhAt?!?!? I honestly have been hesitant to post this. If you have been following my journey through the past few months...you know why. It seems like things change at the last minute. Well, I think that this time is the real thing.
I guess I need to go back to the beginning of the summer. Sometime at the end of May, I talked with Paul (youth pastor at my church) and he told me about something called "Operation West Virginia." Basically there is a Christian and Missionary Alliance (CMA) pastor down in West Virginia who is looking for young, mission minded people to teach in a public school and to help with church planting on the side. Since my heart is to combine the two...I thought this sounded perfect. However, all summer I have been looking but no jobs for elementary. Well, about a month or so ago TONS of spots opened. I ended up applying for NINE!
Since the last time I wrote, I decided that I better start looking for employment elsewhere since teaching didn't seem to be an option. So, I got hired at Cracker Barrel a few weeks ago. My second day of training, I finally got a call from West Virginia after weeks of waiting. So a week and a half ago, dad and I drove 6 hours each way to the mountains of West Virginia for an interview. Just being down there was so encouraging to me. Let me tell you, this is a mission field of its own. God has already brought so many things together....like my roommate and house! There are two other people that are doing what I will be doing, Dan and Laura. They both started at the beginning of the school year. Well, out of all the schools in the district, like 6 or 7 elementaries....I got called to interview at Southside which is a k-8 school. Turns out that Laura teaches middle school english there. That is the only school that we would have been able to be in the same building with two different ages of kids. And...she rents a house 3 miles from the school....and she wants a roommate! God is so good! So, when Dad and I were down there, we got to have dinner with Ken (CMA pastor), Dan, and Laura. Also, I got to take a peek at Laura's house...aka my new house! The whole time down there, I just felt a peace.
On Tuesday I got the call offering me the job. Even though I was excited, I was hesitant to let anyone but family know since all the craziness of the summer. However, I have already filled out the paper work and think everything is ready for me to go! I'm aware that there are going to be some hard times ahead. For one, my students have been used to a sub for two months now, and I don't have a clue where they are academically. And besides meeting my roommate for a few hours, I don't know anyone down there. Oh, and I have NO cell reception....this will be really hard for me!! I know that it won't be easy and that I'm sure there will be lonely nights....but I am SOOO excited!!!
I remember a friend telling me earlier this summer that maybe God had something special for me that would be better than just teaching. I think that this is it! Talk about the eleventh hour! He is so faithful, and I am soooo thankful that I get to begin doing what I have always dreamed of....teaching! I know that God has been with me each step of this journey and that there is a reason that all of this has happened and a reason that I am going to War, West Virginia. I have learned so much through this process. One thing has been to be thankful for today and not to worry about tomorrow. I truly am so thankful that I have been able to spend so much time with my family these past few months. I love them so much! And I have been able to hold my little nephew and treasure thousands of baby smiles and hugs. I am so blessed!
So plan now...run like crazy to pack everything I own, finish waitressing at Cracker Barrel, get lots of family time in, go through my collection of teaching items and plan for my classroom and students, oh....and get a car...
Please pray for me this week that I would be productive and that God would start to prepare the hearts of the little ones that I get to meet SO SOON!!!! :)
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