So I’m going to be honest and tell you that I have been a little resentful lately. I’ve struggled with the fact that I am leaving my family for 11 months, I am saying yes to being single for another year, I am traveling the world with a backpack and a tent. I vowed NEVER EVER to backpack again after I “backpacked” through Europe after graduation. I put “backpack” in parenthesis because the only backpacking I actually did was carry one, from the train to a taxi. A 40 pound backpack full of clothes. You can laugh for a minute 🙂 Now I have to carry a pack that weighs less than 40 pounds and has a whole lot of gear. When I pack for the beach for a week, I pack a large suitcase and usually 2 other small bags. How am I going to pack for a year in a backpack? I mean I had never pitched a tent until a week ago, I don’t think I even knew about sleeping pads until a few months ago, and I sure as …well… didn’t know about footprints, and compression sacks, and pocket showers until the World Race knocked on my front door.
What am I doing/thinking?
The resentment started to set in like crazy. It got even worse when I started thinking about truly leaving my career with no real plans of what I am going to do when I get back in a year. I’m not leaving a job that I kind of like and have had for a few years. I am leaving a job that I adore (I have my days when that might not be true), a job I have had for 7 years. Not only do I love what I do but I love the people I work with. They have become my friends and family. It is hard for me to imagine a work atmosphere without my EJ family.
Well, resentment has never looked very pretty on me and luckily God hit me over the head with His faithfulness and showed me the things I love the most about my job.
The relationships with both my colleagues and my students
The actual teaching
The impact I have on my kids
The impact my kids have on me
The “aha” moment when everything just clicks
The lessons learned on a daily basis
The joy of watching discovery happen
The childlike faith
The laughter and goofiness
The love and friendships
God revealed to me that the things I love the most about my job are going to be things that I get to experience every day next year. I will just experience them in new places, with new students, and a new group of people who will become my family. And the best part by far is that I will get to talk about our Heavenly Father to everyone I meet every single day! Guess what my number one dislike about my job has always been…. not being allowed to talk about God in the public school classrooms. So BAM… God is good and if He wants me to live out of a backpack for the rest of my life, I will!
A Note to all my supporters… Thank you so much for all you have done. I am almost fully funded. Wow!!! Please email me if you would like to be added to my prayer team.
Much Love,
Rachel
