change. part 1.

It's pretty obvious that I haven't been really keeping up with this blog, but I really wanted to make sure I got to share the incredible story of what God's been up to recently in my life.

I guess I need to start back in December of last year.  Once I graduated from JMU, I knew that I wouldn't be finding a teaching job right away and had accepted the fact that I would be doing some subbing and odd jobs until the right thing came along.

GRADUATED!

 Anyone who's really had a chance to sit down and chat with me over the past couple of years has known that more than anything, I wanted to move away from Harrisonburg after graduation.  But, no one tells you what it's going to be like to be a real person or that it's really expensive, especially when you're up to your eyeballs in student loans.  The pressure of even being capable of paying those loans is compacted when you spend the first three months of your newly graduated life unemployed.  It was an extremely frustrating time.  I went from being a busy-body with a consistently full schedule to spending my days in my pjs watching an entire season of 30 Rock in one day.

Needless to say that an invitation to spend some time in Texas with one of my favorite family couldn't have come at a more perfect time.  I spent a week in the Dallas/Fort Worth/Arlington area in early March and began thinking about a possible permanent move there.  While I was there, I received a couple offers for jobs back in Harrisonburg and I finally ended my unemployment streak.

Hanging out at TCU with the lovely McClelland ladies

 I ended up spending the next couple months working as a substitute teacher, waitress, and wine pour-er, all the while dreaming and semi-planning a move to Texas.  I even begin telling people that was my plan.  I was essentially putting myself into a position where I'd have to move, afterall you can't go back on your word.  My timeline to move was sometime at the beginning of August and I'd even applied for teaching jobs in Texas.


 Yet, as August quickly approached, I found that nothing was falling into place and I wasn't feeling any peace about the move.  I still didn't have a job lined up, I couldn't find a car that would get me halfway across the country with all my stuff and I felt sick and scared and couldn't nail down a date to leave.

Then I got an email from a school district in northern Virginia.  They wanted to interview me.  I remember talking to two of my best friends about it and saying it wasn't worth my time to go up for the interview because I was going to be leaving for Texas.  While both understood my point of view, they encouraged me to go ahead and take the interview.  I basically ended up fighting them, trying to defend myself and why I thought it was stupid and pointless to go to the interview.  I remember thinking as I was practically yelling that I'd rather die than move to northern Virginia, "Why am I fighting this so hard?".

Not 24 hours later, I had a conversation with my mom on the phone.  I knew that she was hesitant about the move, and she raised some concerns that really put a roadblock on me not going at all.  I was furious, and sobbed on the phone, all the while thinking she didn't know anything and had no idea what my calling was.

I probably cried for a solid two hours.  I was so mad and so hurt because my mom didn't understand.  Again, my best friends came to the rescue and as we talked I had this crazy realization that I wasn't going to move to Texas and a WAVE of peace and relief washed over me.

Life became SO MUCH BETTER after I realized that Texas was not at all what God had for me.  And if I'm being honest, I wasn't really consulting God on it anyways.  It's funny how we think that if there's a desire in our heart that that automatically means God put it there and that's want He wants for us.  It's so not true, and I obviously learned that the hard way.

So, I was back to square one.  I was still living at home, working odd jobs and seeing as it was nearly the beginning of school, I'd resigning myself to be in the Burg for another year.  I decided to go for the interview with the school system and ended up having an interview at an elementary school as well.  While it was semi-encouraging to have an interview, it didn't feel right.  I found myself doubting my teaching abilities one day and the next being absolutely confident in them and wondering why I still didn't have a real job.

On the 16th of August, which was a Thursday, I traveled to northern Virginia for another interview.  I decided to make a long weekend of it, and planned on staying with my best friend, Rachel and enjoying the touristy-ness of D.C. as well.  As we made our way to a shopping venture at Tyson's, I got call from another elementary school.  The principal had just called and left a message but decided to call me again just to see if she could get in touch with me.  She asked if I had time for a phone interview.  I told I was actually in the area if she had time for a face-to-face interview.  She was very excited and scheduled me in for the next morning at 9:30.

I spent the rest of the day in a haze.  I remember thinking and feeling like something big was going to happen and couldn't shake the feeling that the interview was going to go well.

Rachel drove me to my interview the next morning with the intention of going into D.C. afterward.  The interview lasted over an hour and I was elated walking out.  I immediately called my mom and she was literally screaming into the phone with excitement.  As Rach and I were our way to Barnes and Noble for a coffee break before our D.C. adventure, I got a call.  It was only 10 minutes after my interview but the principal was unofficially offering me the job.  I was in shock and crying, but what's new.

The happy face of a newly employed music teacher!

It was incredible to me that only two days before I had been crying in my kitchen to my mom with frustration, wondering when someone would see my gifts and want to use them.

The rest of the weekend was a blur.  I stayed in northern Virginia for the rest of the day but headed home long enough to pack a bag for the week and get back so I could start new teacher training the following Monday.

I realize this entry is getting quite long so I'm going to make this the end of Part 1 and continue my story later in a separate post. :)