The Tale of How I Got a Job

I know this is my second post today, but hey, lots to say!
So, I lost my job on April 1st. I have been frantically looking ever since. Lots of prayers, applications, emails, and rejection. All I wanted to know was where God wanted me to be. I felt like there was Kingdom work to do somewhere in a school. I was asking God to show me where to go, because I was getting no answers at all. David and I went to Stones River youth group a few weeks ago and they prayed over us that we would find jobs where we could help people. Byron made the comment that when the youth group prays, God listens and responds quickly. He was right!

That week I got three interviews. I was most hopeful about the second one, teaching middle school math. Even though math isn't my favorite, I thought I would like the school. Anyway, I went to the first interview for 5th grade. The school is about 45 minutes away from my house. I was pretty upset when I got there just because I could not imagine driving all that way every day. Anyway, I go inside 10 minutes early, and I can hear the principal interviewing someone else... This candidate sounds very qualified and they are having a great time chatting it up.

...50 minutes later... I am feeling like this job is definitely a no go. She has been interviewing this other woman for for-ev-er and don't want to drive this far. By the way, did I mention I can hear the whole conversation???? I hear the principal telling the interviewee about the high poverty population her school serves. My heart tingles a little. I feel called to poverty. But, its far away, and I don't want this job. Its obvious the other candidate is going to get the job. I text David and tell him I just want to leave. I explain the situation and tell him I don't want the job anyway and it is taking for-ev-er. David asks me not to leave, but to interview anyway.... In my mind I am sighing and saying, why did I tell him... Why didn't I just leave?? Then I start thinking... He is my husband. I have promised to respect him. And I decide to stay and talk with the principal. Only because I love David and want to show him I respect him.

So I stay and interview for about 20 minutes. The interview goes well. I don't get nervous for interviews, so they generally go well. I am not thinking anything is special... She tells me about the kids that go to the school. My heart is tingling again.

I drive home. Fully planning on not accepting the job, IF it is even offered. I talk it over with David and my mom. They agree it is really far away.

I go to my second interview of the week. It goes really well! I am almost positive I will get it. Days later I am told I will not be getting it. My third interview gets cancelled. I'm not too upset...

Then- I get the phone call. She wants me for the job. She had another position open up and she is calling me. My initial reaction is to tell her, you are too far away, thanks but no thanks. Thankfully, I just say I will think about it over the weekend.

We discuss. We pray. We listen. My heart just won't stop tingling. I cannot stop thinking of the kids I could work with. Kids who don't have a lot in their lives. Kids I could show love to... They win me over. I have never met any of them, but I feel like God is sending me to them. And I am going! I accepted the job this morning!

God is faithful. Listening to your husband is a good idea. I'm really excited!

Pancakes de Lauren

I am super impressed with this guy Jim's website dedicated to his creation of pancakes. I decided that I should try it out for myself. I bought the squirt bottles he uses and made a valiant first attempt.

In my mind I wanted some pink heart shaped cakes with chocolate chip polka dots. This was not the end result...
First I used some Blueberry pomegranate juice to color the batter pink. Or at least purple. But it turned out gray. How did that happen? Well, maybe next time I will use some food coloring. The juice did make the pancakes taste super yummy, though!


Next I started my heart pancake. Apparently leaving the lid on the squirt bottle while i smacked the end to get the batter down in the nozzle was a bad idea. Too much pressure made the batter squirt out continuously. I didn't have any control over the batter flow!!! So it ended up a little crazy!

So I filled it all in and let it bake. Then after I flipped it, I had the idea to make a black and white cookie kinda heart. So I put chocolate chips on half of the heart. YUM! It looked kinda... not beautiful...

Also I made a swirl.
Then, inspired by my sweet dog, I made a Moe cake. I did the head first, then the body. I used chocolate chips for eyes.




Looks nice, right?
It was an interesting first try. Totally delicious, but not to the artistic level I anticipated.
Well, there is always tomorrow!

Turtle Rescue

I have enjoyed my time working at the Discovery Center thus far. My favorite part of the job is watching the turtles! We have a pond of red eared sliders. In the other side we have a big snapper. It is divided for the safety of the little turtles. One female just doesn't care. She keeps on crawling up the embankment and falling into the snapper's side! Old Snappy hasn;t eaten her yet though. And four times I have seen her start climbing and stopped her....

A turtle rescuer's job is never done!

Summer Girl

New haircut for summer! Yay! Moe got one too :)






Also- check out this website. It makes me excited! www.missionyear.org

Happy summer to all! Use the time to love on people around you, to read good books, and to be still and know that HE is God!

Miracle

One moment, I am outside on the porch, reading and drinking a Cherry Coke Zero in the sun... The next moment, I feel a darkness around me. A giant cloud has pushed its way over our house. Then comes the wind. Our grill cover is doing a lovely dance. Ahhh Tennessee summertime weather... Nothing like it.

Have I mentioned lately that God is so good?! When I am feeling hopeless, he shines a little light my way. Also, today a miracle happened. I am not kidding... I believe in miracles. And this one sounds trite, but it happened. Gather roooound brothers and sisters, because here is the story. I had a very discouraging phone call today with a business that shall remain nameless. I needed their help and it was refused, quite rudely and without reason. This is not the first time they have treated me poorly. Anyway, I was so upset. Feeling depressed and defeated, I went to eat lunch with some of my favorite ladies and baby. We went to Wich Which, a fabulous sandwich place that serves a ham and pineapple sandwich! Now that is a good sandwich! I decided to get a bag of baked chips because they are more healthy. Sad to say, the only baked chips I saw were too flavored.
If you know me, like- really know me, you know I just like plain, original flavored chips 90% of the time. So, I was not excited about these Southwestern Ranch Baked chips I picked up. But, I wanted something crunchy to eat, so I got them. I ordered the rest of my food, sat down, looked at my chips and - Praise the LORD they were Original Baked Lays! The kind that I had wanted! And, I KNOW there were none of them up there when I grabbed my bag. It was like water into wine, only better! The LORD smiled on me. He gave me something to cheer me up and told me, "I've still got you. Calm down." God is Good. All the time. Amen.

Summertime!

The school year is officially over!! I am no longer a first year teacher. My dear students are passed on into the next teacher's hands. Feels good. Saying goodbye to my kids was painful, especially when they told me they missed me and their parents said "You can go visit her next year, you will see her!" or when parents told me they hoped the younger sibling got me next year. Oh- tearful! However, knowing that parents thought I did a good job helping their precious kids made me feel proud of myself. Now it is time to move on to new things.

New things:
Working at the Discovery Center! Yay! Looking forward to getting lots of great hands-on teaching ideas.
Going to the pool! Last summer we had no time, but this year I will relax by the pool with a good book and work on my tan.
Working out with Nikki! My sweet sis is moving to Kansas for her doctorate (get it!) in August. So we are going to treasure our last months together and work out a lot! Yay!

Hurrah for summertime!

Circle of Life versus Time Line

Well, my birthday came and went. With it came beautiful flowers, great meals, and lots of love! However, no job. My time line that I had in my brain passed by without any hope for a new job.

But, I have peace, praise God! Thanks a lot to Dean letting the Spirit work through him on Sunday talking about surrender. I am surrendering (because I have to do it everyday... stupid human nature) my job search to God. He is the one with the plan. I do not need to have a deadline in mind. I do not need to have a certain place in mind. I need only to trust and say "I'm here! Where are you sending me??" Feels good to know I am not in charge :)




Ok, totally unrelated, but LOST ended and I was perfectly happy with the finale. It was funny, sweet, and focused totally on the characters it started with. For the record, the characters, not the crazy-hare-brained-philosophical-time-travelling-insane plot were what drew me into the show. Love was the strongest bond between them in the end! Yay for love winning! I also liked how they did not explain everything, but still left the end clear. Time, which the fans (and writers) have been obsessed with from season 3 (I think), played little role. It was nice to see the relationships be reunited! I almost shed a tear when Charlie saw Aaron and Claire... Oh man. So good! Kudos to the little jokes they threw in for the fans, like calling Flocke Smokey and telling Jack he was the obvious choice. It was a nice tribute to the fans of the show.


In summation: the circle of life wins.