The beginning of month four in Quito, Ecuador began with another debrief. One night, we were all crowded in the little courtyard type thing in our hostel for a session. I opened my bible and began flipping through trying to find the chapter we were asked to look at. I stopped on a random page and looked down. There was the tiniest feather I have ever seen. I turned to Jen who was sitting beside me and pointed it out to her. She said, “Save that! It’s from heaven.” I marked what page it was on and turned to the chapter the session was focusing on. After that I forgot all about it.
Until a couple of weeks later at our ministry site. Again, I randomly opened my bible and just happened to flip right to that same page and saw the feather again. I did a quick google search to see what the web had to say about feathers from heaven. I found many websites saying that people find them all the time and they seem to appear from thin air. Many believe that they are feathers from angels. They can carry many meanings. One of them serving as a reminder that angels are always surrounding us and protecting us.
I began reading the passage that the feather was on. It was all about wisdom.
This month I have been thinking a lot about what I will do when I get home after the Race. Sometimes it makes me anxious because I really don’t know what I am going to do for a job. Even though I spent six years, two in grad school earning a masters degree, I do not want to go home and get a job in the speech pathology career field. Which sucks. But it’s just not where my passion is. At all.
I started thinking about why I even got that degree in the first place. It’s a great field, really interesting, and would definitely be enough to be independent financially. But when it comes to actually doing therapy that’s when I’m out.
I have used my speech path skills several times on the Race. In Haiti, I gave a quick lesson to a teammate so she could teach English. This month in Ecuador, we are teaching three English classes. I have given lessons on pronunciation. I have used a method of teaching that I used during grad school with one of my clients. Also, during one of my internships I learned a lot about the development of babies. I learned about motor, cognitive, speech, and social skills of children under three. I also learned a lot about behavior and various ways to implement those skills. My team is doing a lot of babysitting this month. There is a six month old boy who we watch almost everyday. While I watch him, I use the skills I learned to help him. I put him on the floor for tummy time, get him in a position to work on muscles used for crawling, and use toys to target other muscles important for developing fine motor skills. I am using all those years of school so much during this trip. Maybe that’s the point of my degree: the World Race.
My passion is not in speech pathology. It is in animals. My dream job would be to be a vet with exotic animals or to work at an animal rehabilitation center. I would love to rescue hurt, sick, or abandoned monkeys, nurse them back to health, and then set them free in the wild again. That has absolutely nothing to do with my degree. Which also sucks.
But that feather has stuck with me and it got me thinking. Why did I get that degree if that’s not what I want to do? I might have found the answer in that feather. No one else on my team has my skill set. I am able to educate them so together we can be more effective in English classes. Maybe that’s why I have my degree. So I can grow the kingdom this year on the Race. It is necessary to have the knowledge of speech pathology so I can aid in ministry. God had a plan. I think he is using my skills now but he has not thrown out the passion and love of animals that I have had since before I can remember.
The feather was on chapter 4 in Proverbs: Wisdom is Supreme. This talks about how God is guiding our every step. If we follow his guidance and listen to his wisdom we won’t be led astray. There is a reason for everything.
I can pursue my dreams still. Maybe the Race is the season for speech pathology but after the Race is the season for animals. I don’t know if that’s what’s going to happen or not, but I do know that if I listen to God’s wisdom, things will work out just fine. I shouldn’t worry about what’s going to happen after the Race. One, because I’m only in month four and post-race is a long time away. Two, God’s got this.
My word for Ecuador is wisdom.
My verse(s)-Proverbs 4:11-12
“I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you down straight paths. When you walk, you will not be hampered; when you run you will not stumble.”
I may not clearly see the reasoning for things, but I am being led down a straight path. There is a reason I earned my masters degree in speech pathology and there is a reason I have a passion for exotic animals. God will use both. I just have to listen to his wisdom. Because it is supreme.
