In 2011, I graduated from the University of Evansville with a B.S. in English Education, and I tried to do what pretty much everyone tries to do after graduating from the University of Evansville with a B.S. in English Education: get a job. For me, at least, that didn't work out very well.
When I got the call for my first interview, I was very optimistic, and I thought about how great it would be if I wouldn't have to go through the same struggles that I had seen some of friends go through with finding a job or the lack thereof. I felt very strongly that God had called me to be a teacher (and I still do), that I would be a great teacher, and that everything, all of my hard work and time, was finally going to turn into something.
And then the roof caved in. And I do mean literally. When I got to the school where the interview was supposed to take place, there was police tape surrounding the building and parking lot and no cars to be seen.
The interview, two days later, I felt went very well, especially considering that it was my first, which actually made me a feel a little panicked. I expressed concern to my family that if I got the job, "I could still be going there when I'm 50." And my dad said, "Wasn't that the point?"
From the beginning of the job search journey, I told God that whatever doors He opened, I would run toward until I got through or they were closed. And since then, I've gone to several more interviews, some situations that felt like they couldn't fail, like they couldn't cave in, like all of those other doors had been closed so that I could find my way through this door.
And I've been rejected. And I've lost promised and promising opportunities. And I've taught Science. Twice. And I've been restless. And I've been living this unstable life where things are only for a period, and then I'm back to where I started, feeling as though I'm no closer to fulfilling the calling, no closer to actually making it through the door. I just float from one temporary thing to another. Everything is temporary.
But I've been thinking lately. About how everything is temporary. And everything is temporary. Life is temporary. We only get one chance to do this, and it's just a pathetic blip on the radar screen of eternity. I've been thinking about what my dad asked. About the point. About what the point is.
The point, I believe, is finding a way to take advantage of the opportunity to live life in such a way that our short little time affects eternity.
And some people can do that as a teacher. I believe I can.
But I also believe that God has given me this adventurous heart, this desire to travel, this desire to live deeper.
I believe that everything happens for a reason, according to God's will, and that the timing is right, that I needed these past two years to learn and grow and be rejected so that I could find my "own" way to this open door that I wasn't ready to see until this time.
I'm still chasing doors because that's what I believe God wants from us, from me, to chase after the things that His will puts in our paths, to chase after Him wherever we can find Him.
And at this time, I believe that has led me here. To The World Race.
