The one thing that I have realized since being back from The World Race is that I am horrible with communication. I try to be better and then it just does not work out for me. I have been meaning to write a blog for sometime, but just didn’t know how to put all that I have been going through. I will try now to catch you up on my life.
Last fall, I got a teaching job 10 days before school started. I was so excited to go back to teaching. It was a 7, 8, 9 grade math teaching job in a small town in South Dakota. I worked very hard to get my lessons together and I thought everything was going great. I was planning to be in the district for two years. The thing is, I was never able to get totally into the job. I was asked at Christmas time to give up my 7th/8th grade classes and to just help another teacher with the classes. I learned a huge lesson of patience through my last semester on the job. It was decided at the beginning of February that I would resign from the job. It was a mutual decision and so I did. I was trying to think of what to do and where to go. I did know that I needed a break from the math teaching career. At this point, I started to ask God what he wanted me to do.
Last year I had many people mention to me that teaching English as a second language in another country would suit me. I started thinking about this option and started to do some research on where I could teach. The only thing I did know was that I wanted to teach in Asia. In March, I saw a blog written by Ryan Stewart from the January 07 squad about moving to Japan. I was curious so I contacted him to ask him about what he does. Ryan was super helpful, told me what his job was, and told me about a possible opening in August. Ryan told me to seek God in the decision to make sure that was where I was supposed to be. After a few days of truly seeking God, I decided to apply to the place Ryan was teaching.
I got a call two weeks later. The pastor asked me to go in June instead of August. I was truly not sure if I wanted to do this. The main reason was summers are the only time I get to spend with my parents who live in England. The only thing is God had already worked that out for me. My mom and dad had come home for spring break this year since my grandpa was dying. They were delayed by 2 and a half weeks because of the volacanoe in Iceland and my grandpa’s death. I was able to spend 4 weekends and 3 full weeks with my parents. I feel that it is time for me to go and that it will be okay.
I will say that I have peace about this decision. I am still saying to myself daily, am I really leaving on June 10th for Japan. Have I really committed to something that I am not sure about? I know that God is in this decision and it is something that will stretch and grow me.
