It all began last May when I was in Panama City Panama. I was staying at a YWAM base with a few of my squad members to set up Panama ministry when I received an email from my mother saying that the head wrestling coach position had opened up at Harrison High School. I quickly applied for it thinking that I really needed something set-up for when I returned. So, long story short, I got the job along with a Spanish teaching position. Let me just say, I have never received proper training for teaching. I had no knowledge of how to plan lessons, set up grading rubrics, communicate with parents….nothing. Needless to say, I was overwhelmed.
Fast forward three months (roughly October), and I just broke. I could not understand why God had put me there at Harrison High School, a place as familiar to me as my front yard. Shouldn’t I be out “doing” something? Was all last year for nothing? No.
You see, God has a way of using all things for his glory. He allows us to pass through seasons in order to refine us, to mold and shape us. This season seemed like the LONGEST season of my life. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the coaching aspect, but teaching was really a stretch. And please understand, I am EXTREMELY thankful that I had a job during this rough state of the economy. However, I hungered and longed for something else. There is something inside of me that I cannot explain. It’s not just a passion, it’s something that is only satisfied when I am operating fully in the calling and nature that God has given me. I saw glimpses of it during this past year, but it was not full on. There is a reason why God has given us different “callings”, and I definitely have learned that. I pled with the Lord for something different but to give me the courage to finish well. I knew that I was struggling and that he was shaping me, but I had no idea for what purpose.
Skip forward (now April 15th), and God shows up and not just in a small way. I receive an email from the principal asking me to come in to visit him. At 2pm I walked into his office. At 2:10pm I walked out…without a job for next year. I forgot to mention, at this point I had committed in my heart that I would serve God at this school one more year if I must, I had submitted. So he acted. I signed on to my email around 2:15pm (yes, the times are significant).
In my inbox, there was an email. This email was time-stamped at 2:04pm, while I was sitting in the office with my principal hearing the “bad” news. The email was from Jimmy McCarty, coordinator for the World Race. He had asked me previously how teaching was going and if I was planning on staying in it for a while. I had told him that I needed to pay off some school debt. For some reason, Jimmy mentioned that I had come to his mind that morning of April 15th and he felt like he had to email me once more just to see if I would come and work as a squad leader. A last effort. So…
During the time that I was finding out about my lost job, God was already preparing the next step for me…at the same time. He is so faithful! I will be co-leading the August 2009 squad with Caroline, a World Race alum, and we will be launching in Ireland. Go check out her blog as well. I am currently sitting at training camp in Gainesville, blown away by God’s goodness. He truly knows the desires of my heart. I exist to mobilize others and ignite a passion that is uncontainable.
The Lord has heard my cry, his love endures forever.
