Tonight, I will write about something that has been heavy on my heart for a few days. I can sum it up in one complex sentence (shout out to the grammar nerds):
When the summer ends, I will not go back to school.
For the past 7 years I have returned to school as a teacher, and for the 20ish years before that, I had returned to school as a student. As I type, I am forced to think about how the end of the summer will no longer mean school supplies, lesson planning, and bubbly new faces watching from 28 gray desks. This year, the end of the summer is unfamiliar. This year, the end of the summer means change.
My first superintendent in Drew, MS said this at my first official staff meeting: “Ain’t nobody like change but a wet baby.” Even though I’m sure we can all think of plenty of wet babies who don’t like to be changed, we can all agree that it is necessary for their well-being. The change is good for them.
Change is good for grown-ups, too, even when we don’t like it while it is happening.
This bittersweet decision of leaving the classroom is the hardest one I’ve had to make. The World Race is part of my Kingdom Calling; it is the next step into a new season and discovering God’s purpose for my life. I am overjoyed about what will happen in the months to come, but I am also in the process of navigating the deep.
I am leaving people for whom I have fought and fiercely loved, but only to fight for and fiercely love others whom I’ve yet to meet. I am saying goodbye to people who have transformed my ideas, attitudes, and thoughts, but only to undergo more transformation as I meet new people around the world. I am leaving the familiar and stepping into new places, new people, and new roles.
Friend, I have been called into the deep waters of change, but I am not afraid because “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). In the waves of change, He is steadfast and unchanging, and I know that he will lead me to a new, breathtaking place, one which I will look upon and say, “Maybe change isn’t so bad.”
Until the whole world hears,
Mia
PS – More on where and when I’ll be going, what I’ll be doing, and fundraising in my next post! Click the “Follow Me” button on the top left to receive updates when I write new content! Love ya!
