Whew, where has the time gone?!?! I was thinking about this blog this afternoon and though it was maybe time to start writing again. I tell my students every day that to become better at writing we need to practice doing it ever day!
So a year ago I wrote about how we can't predict where we will be and we have to let God take control and boy have I sure done that. Moving to Florida right after I graduated from college seemed like the right thing to do. I really wanted to be a part of my parents new church in Naples and felt God calling me to be a part of that. Not to mention that I heard it would be a lot easier to find a teaching job and start my career down here.
Well I sat around all summer, enjoying the beautiful beaches along the gulf, not worrying about finding a job (trust me my dad didn't like that one very much), and spending LOTS of quality time with my mom. It didn't really dawn on my until about two months later that I had no friends besides my parents. This was where I hit the first speed bump. I thought that I had maybe made a mistake and that I should have gone some where else after graduating. However, I decided that I just had to stick it out and try to make friends. I went back to Wisconsin at the end of July for a wedding and had to a chance to see all those friends that I really missed. Even though it was hard leaving them again, it was easier to go back to Florida when I knew my sister was moving down this time. I was so excited to have her around.
Throughout the summer I had been looking for a teaching job and now that summer was coming to an end I knew I HAD to find a job. I couldn't understand that out of the tons of teaching openings that I wasn't even getting calls for interviews. I was so frustrated and discouraged that I thought, maybe I wasn't supposed to teach right away. I started looking for other jobs and hadn't heard a lot from them. Meanwhile I decided to dye my hair pink. Now at the time I thought this was a really good idea, it would be fun and probably fade quickly. Since I wasn't getting interviews I went ahead and did it. And then...I heard my phone ring and lo and behold it was someone calling for a job interview! Yikes! I was thrilled even though it was just for a preschool position but it was a job! Of course the second I went tell my parents my dad said, "How do you think you'll get a job with pink hair!" First of all, this isn't little town USA anymore and no one really cares...at least that's what I was hoping. I had my interview two days later and they really wanted to find a spot for me so I two more interviews after that. I was just ready for them to offer me the job! As I waited for them to call back the next few days a friend had texted me and said that her principal was interview potential teachers the next day and that I should give her a call to fit me in. I was really nervous but called any way. She said she could fit me in and then there I was with my first teaching interview!
Now you'd probably like to think that I got the job...but no. After my interview she said that they didn't have anymore openings. In my head I'm thinking, "Well then why the heck did you just interview me." But then she said that I should give these two other schools a call because she knew they were still looking. (Maybe I should mention that school started in about two weeks). I frantically got back into my car, shaking with the potential of more interviews. Now driving through Florida in the middle of August, WITHOUT air conditioning isn't a combination when you want to look fresh and presentable for an interview, and as you know driving with the windows down isn't really an option when making a phone call. So there I was, windows rolled up sweating my butt off, working up the nerve to call these other principals. I called the first school and no one answered (which now I believe was a blessing from what I've heard). I called the second school and they asked me to come in right away for an interview! I drove to the school, sweaty and gross, but sure that God wasn't taking me through this crazy adventure for nothing! I got to the school, had my interview, and at the end they offered me a fifth grade teaching job! Praise God!
I've been teaching fifth grade all year and I absolutely love it. There are those tough days when none of my students want to listen but seeing their smiles when they realize they can be good at school is priceless. I also have the most amazing coworkers. They are so encouraging and have become such great friends of mine!
As for the church, things have been good but slow. We are continuing to see God's hand in everything we do and are growing as a congregation by a few each month. We have been blessed with amazing friends and have enjoyed getting to know each individual in our church.
God has been so good to me in the last year and I have grown so much through my experiences as a new Florida resident and a first year teacher. Each day is a new adventure and it is the perfect example of God's unconditional love.
