yesterday "out of the blue" i started thinking about teaching
and about how words have been spoken over me that tell me i'll be back in the classroom soon
(of course, soon being a relative term...)
and also...
about how EVERY job i've had for the last 2.5+ years has been given to me
not from an interview
but as a gift because of my reputation
because of word of mouth
because someone KNEW me
and then i remembered that my teaching job(s) were given to me the same way
the first, because of the reputation of the university i went to
and because i had volunteered in inner city ministry while there
(seriously -- the principal called me to set up an interview...when i hadn't even applied to that specific school. i had just hung up the phone when she called back and said "you know, i'd like to go ahead and just offer you the job.)
the second, because i did my student teaching there
and they wanted me back
so the thought came
"i think that's how it's going to happen again"
all the time i've spent STRIVING for a teaching job
that needs to stop
i need to make the systems aware that i'm available
check to see if there are openings
and then just wait.
i have friends all over the systems
who know people who are in places of hiring authority
i can rely on connections
and until then
i LOVE what i'm doing
i'm not making crazy amounts of money from my "job"
but i am crazily and wonderfully provided for!
not very long after i was thinking these thoughts
a text came from a friend
"if you were offered a teaching job right now...would you take it?"
now, that particular text had a lot to do with her own current situation
but...it was a nice little confirmation
that it'll come
and for now
i'm perfectly content where i am :)
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Sunday, January 9, 2011
1.9.11
i have this thing with the number 9
so it's not surprising to me that on january the 9th, He snuck in some extra surprises for me :)
first there was the opportunity to share (with our church of Christ middle schoolers)
the fact that God still speaks
and a few of the ways He does
(but of course i was sharing about the prophetic...and of course i didn't use those words)
what a blessing to look at their faces and see realization come upon some of them
then came the kinda flat tire.
i stopped by anthony's apartment on my way home from church and lunch where we finished the 10 minutes or so of the movie we'd watched most of yesterday.
and for some reason, i was insistent on going home afterward
i knew i'd only have an hour a most at home
and i totally had all my stuff with me
normally i would have just stuck around, playing games or whatever
but i wanted to go home
as we walked out of the apartment building and approached my car
the words were almost out of my mouth before i even saw the tire
"i think i'm going to need to air up my tire before babysitting"
sure enough, it was fairly flat
now, anthony has a portable air compressor
and normally my instinct would have been to say "can we just use it?"
instead of paying for air
but before i could even finish that thought
i knew i was supposed to stop somewhere
so i made my way down the road
intending to stop on my way to babysitting
when all of a sudden the exact station that i needed to stop at entered my mind
and it wasn't on my way to the job
it was between anthony's apartment and home
i've learned to go with these promptings
and i barely even grumbled at myself
as i passed several stations on the way to the one
that had convenient air pumps that i could have zipped in and out of in no time
i prepared my 75 cents at a stoplight
and eventually pulled into the very busy parking lot of a kroger
(snow has been predicted...a fact that wasn't lost on me when this station first entered my mind)
so instead of the quiet stations i had passed
this station was bustling
i looked around for awhile
easy to access air didn't exist here
and i began to wonder if it DID exist
when i saw it
and there was a woman crouched down beside her SUV already airing up her tire
i sighed as i saw that
knowing that now my journey home would take even longer
i'd get 45 minutes there at best
and thought fleetingly about pulling out of the station
but knew instantly that i was supposed to be here
so i pulled up behind the SUV
idling in a non-space until the woman looked up and waved me into the empty space beside her
i pulled in
rolled down the window and said something about it being so cold that everyone's tires were going flat
she didn't respond other than a quick look up and partial smile
and it was then that i thought "ohhh, she's not a native english speaker
she likely didn't even understand what i said"
a few moments later i heard a hesitant and broken english voice say
"excuse me, ma'am?"
and she told me that she was unsure she was doing this correctly
that her husband was at work so she needed to do it
and she had never done anything like this before.
i hopped out of my car, tire gauge in hand
and realized that she had been attempting to fill her tire with air for at least 10 minutes
with the cap still on
so i bent down, removed the cap, checked the pressure (it was quite flat!) and filled the tire for her
amid her profound thank yous
since i was unsure of the pressure an SUV should have
i said "let me check the other side for you"
and as i rounded the vehicle
i could tell that this tire was nearly as flat as the other
i instructed her that it needed some air as well
and after telling me that i could take care of my car first
and having that offer refused
she began to fill it
i took a moment to wave at her son
oh-so-seriously "reading" the newspaper in his carseat
(he looked to be about 3)
and smiled as i saw that there was a new life growing inside her
i checked her other tires to make sure they were ok
and then told her to have a blessed weekend
and she thanked me...profusely...again
and drove away
3 lives safer than they were 10 minutes before
i looked down at my hand at the air nozzle still running
and laughed
knowing that at maximum this particular air machine should run maybe 5 minutes
and she'd been there for at least 10 minutes before i had helped her
20 minutes still running
and it filled my tire too
was still running as i drove away
and my heart was full as i knew
again
that my life had divinely intersected with another
a year ago i would have been happy to have helped another
but i don't know as i would have been so aware that i was led to her
so i am thankful not only for the intersection of humans today
but the Intersection with the Divine
letting me know that He worked with me today
and allowed me to be His Hands
holding a tire gauge.
:)
so it's not surprising to me that on january the 9th, He snuck in some extra surprises for me :)
first there was the opportunity to share (with our church of Christ middle schoolers)
the fact that God still speaks
and a few of the ways He does
(but of course i was sharing about the prophetic...and of course i didn't use those words)
what a blessing to look at their faces and see realization come upon some of them
then came the kinda flat tire.
i stopped by anthony's apartment on my way home from church and lunch where we finished the 10 minutes or so of the movie we'd watched most of yesterday.
and for some reason, i was insistent on going home afterward
i knew i'd only have an hour a most at home
and i totally had all my stuff with me
normally i would have just stuck around, playing games or whatever
but i wanted to go home
as we walked out of the apartment building and approached my car
the words were almost out of my mouth before i even saw the tire
"i think i'm going to need to air up my tire before babysitting"
sure enough, it was fairly flat
now, anthony has a portable air compressor
and normally my instinct would have been to say "can we just use it?"
instead of paying for air
but before i could even finish that thought
i knew i was supposed to stop somewhere
so i made my way down the road
intending to stop on my way to babysitting
when all of a sudden the exact station that i needed to stop at entered my mind
and it wasn't on my way to the job
it was between anthony's apartment and home
i've learned to go with these promptings
and i barely even grumbled at myself
as i passed several stations on the way to the one
that had convenient air pumps that i could have zipped in and out of in no time
i prepared my 75 cents at a stoplight
and eventually pulled into the very busy parking lot of a kroger
(snow has been predicted...a fact that wasn't lost on me when this station first entered my mind)
so instead of the quiet stations i had passed
this station was bustling
i looked around for awhile
easy to access air didn't exist here
and i began to wonder if it DID exist
when i saw it
and there was a woman crouched down beside her SUV already airing up her tire
i sighed as i saw that
knowing that now my journey home would take even longer
i'd get 45 minutes there at best
and thought fleetingly about pulling out of the station
but knew instantly that i was supposed to be here
so i pulled up behind the SUV
idling in a non-space until the woman looked up and waved me into the empty space beside her
i pulled in
rolled down the window and said something about it being so cold that everyone's tires were going flat
she didn't respond other than a quick look up and partial smile
and it was then that i thought "ohhh, she's not a native english speaker
she likely didn't even understand what i said"
a few moments later i heard a hesitant and broken english voice say
"excuse me, ma'am?"
and she told me that she was unsure she was doing this correctly
that her husband was at work so she needed to do it
and she had never done anything like this before.
i hopped out of my car, tire gauge in hand
and realized that she had been attempting to fill her tire with air for at least 10 minutes
with the cap still on
so i bent down, removed the cap, checked the pressure (it was quite flat!) and filled the tire for her
amid her profound thank yous
since i was unsure of the pressure an SUV should have
i said "let me check the other side for you"
and as i rounded the vehicle
i could tell that this tire was nearly as flat as the other
i instructed her that it needed some air as well
and after telling me that i could take care of my car first
and having that offer refused
she began to fill it
i took a moment to wave at her son
oh-so-seriously "reading" the newspaper in his carseat
(he looked to be about 3)
and smiled as i saw that there was a new life growing inside her
i checked her other tires to make sure they were ok
and then told her to have a blessed weekend
and she thanked me...profusely...again
and drove away
3 lives safer than they were 10 minutes before
i looked down at my hand at the air nozzle still running
and laughed
knowing that at maximum this particular air machine should run maybe 5 minutes
and she'd been there for at least 10 minutes before i had helped her
20 minutes still running
and it filled my tire too
was still running as i drove away
and my heart was full as i knew
again
that my life had divinely intersected with another
a year ago i would have been happy to have helped another
but i don't know as i would have been so aware that i was led to her
so i am thankful not only for the intersection of humans today
but the Intersection with the Divine
letting me know that He worked with me today
and allowed me to be His Hands
holding a tire gauge.
:)
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