Sorry for the sporadic posts lately . . . this year (when a teacher says that she's referring to the start date being August, haha!) has been a whirlwind to say the least. Remember all those posts about "somethings coming" or "God said to 'Go on'"??
Well, I did ...
blindly ...
Do you know how scary it is to get in a car and start driving somewhere unknown? No? Well, in a literal sense, me neither, but I have found out that in a figurative sense (meaning following a prompting of God) it's the BEST thing you could ever possibly do in your ENTIRE LIFE! You've just got to trust me on this one - or do it yourself!
Here's my story - hold on to your seats :)
Last May David and I started praying for "what's next" in life (refer to this blog post!) We thought it was maybe a stirring for a family. We prayed for that, for direction in that, and for clarity in what was going on. You see we'd completed this 4 year cycle - 4 years of high school, 4 years of college, about 4 years of work, time for something new. Well, I wasn't pregnant, nor did I get pregnant (refer to this blog post!) and I was ok with that and truthfully I still am! Still, no answer to the question, "what's next?" Around October of that year my stomach started hurting, a lot, every day. I thought it was my gallbladder and then we found out that it was something else - yay, there's a diagnosis and a cure. Looking back, I think this was evil work trying to distract me, trying to steer me off the path that God was laying out in front of me. I'm so thankful for family and friends and wonderful doctors that helped me through everything. Yes, it did take a lot of patience and prayer. It's still not completely resolved, but I was reminded daily that "I can do anything through Christ who gives me strength" (Phillippians 4:13) even, working through pain! During all of my stomach issues (refer to this blog post) I still felt like I was being prepared for something, that God was still working in a mighty way in our lives. Soon, we found out about a missions trip to Guatemala with our church and we decided to get our feet wet with that ... I mean what if God was calling us to pack up and go somewhere like, oh I don't know, Africa?!? We went (refer to this blog post, and this one too!) It was amazing, but still no definitive answer. We didn't feel prompted to move to a third world country permanently. So we kept praying, David kept working and I went back to school. Around mid-September I was reminded that there was a position open at our church. It had previously been publicized as a part-time job, but I was drawn to it again. Let me interject here, you have to understand two things 1)we live about 45 minutes away from our church so a part time job was out of the question financially and 2)leaving a classroom in the middle of a school year is just about impossible! With that said, I inquired about it possibly being a full time position - why? a prompting from the Holy Spirit to "Go on!" (refer to this blog post).
Here's when my answer came: YES! After the initial WOW moment and the excitement of the possibility, millions of questions flooded my mind: Really God - you want me to quit my current, good, comfortable, stable job? When will this all work out? How do I apply for something like this? Am I qualified to be a Children's Minister? Who will take care of the 26 babies I've grown to LOVE so far this school year (even Riley!)? How can I work in a town I don't live in? and so on and so forth.
If you don't take anything away from this story today - please take away this: When God speaks, act immediately; with no reserves, no regrets, and no retreats! He will honor your obedience and bless you with the honor of being in His perfect will for your life. I cannot begin to explain to you how wonderful this feels and I'm humbled every day to know that this was God's plan for my life!
So, back to the story, the whirlwind part - I asked about the job on a Tuesday, sent my resume in on a Thursday. The following Tuesday I was sitting in a preliminary interview with the personnel committee of the church. That Thursday I was sitting in an interview with the senior pastor of our church. The next week I was offered the chance to move forward with the process of telling the congregation. That Thursday I sent in my resignation letter to the school's district office. The following Monday I was informed of my benefits & payroll terminations to be coming soon and I told my team of teachers my plans. I also explained to them that after telling our principal of my plans, she said that there was a teacher available at any moment because her district paperwork was not processed in time before this school year (not a coincidence in my opinion). That Sunday, a bio about me was in the bulletin and a church conference was scheduled two weeks away. For these two weeks, My replacement teacher was able to come everyday to get to know the kids. The Sunday of the church conference I was voted in unanimously (which was nerve racking because we'd had some heated, to say the least, church conferences recently - refer to this blog post!) The Monday of my last week, I sent a letter to parents - and not one negative response was given! Sunday I was greeted warmly by volunteers and parents and Monday I started my new position as "Minister to Preschool & Children at First Baptist Church, Mt. Pleasant."
I've never done something so daring before in my life - resigning from a job when the next one is not completely lined up. I knew, though, that this was finally the answer to my prayers. God's timing is not always our timing. If it was up to me, he would have told me what he wanted me to do in May of 2010 when I started praying. If it was up to me, he would have told me at least before I started the new school year. He didn't though, He knew the best time. He knew the lessons that I needed to learn - lessons of blind faith, of trusting Him in all circumstances (future security, financially, etc.) He knew what the perfect plan looked like and He needed my complete obedience. I'm so thankful that I serve such an amazing God, such a perfect God, such an all-knowing God. He worked all the details of my life out for me better than I could have ever planned - even during the tough times. In the bible, Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them."
Be encouraged to follow God's promptings - with blind faith.
