I just love this quote…
“Those who leave everything in God’s hand will eventually see God’s hand in everything.”
How true is this. Sometimes letting go of control and putting something in God’s hands is easier said than done. I feel that I’m much better about this than I was years ago, but sometimes letting go is still a struggle.
Take this for example. I began my teaching career a looooong time ago…way back in the 1900s. August 1995 to be exact. I got my first job in a small town where the kids were bussed in from other surrounding small towns. I was so excited that I was an actual teacher. I had so many ideas of what my classroom would be like. The room would be clean and neat all the time, I would have THE best bulletin boards, my lessons would be perfect and the kids would leave everyday full of new things they learned from me. At the very least, I would make all kinds of teacher friends and we would be lifelong teachers right there at that school together. Yeah…that didn’t happen.
In fact, not only did that not happen, but I was put into situations that I was definitely not prepared to handle. Being a young and very naive new teacher, I just went with the flow, not really realizing some of what was happening. I wasn’t strong enough to speak up about what I did realize nor was I strong enough to immediately pray about it. Looking back now, I can see God’s hand in so many situations that could have gone south quickly. He protected me both mentally and physically.
Needless to say, about halfway through that school year, I was planning my retirement. Moving to the beach sounds good, right? Of course, that didn’t happen, but I really had no plan of what to do next. I did find out how to resign and when summer came, I ended up moving to another small town about 8 hours away with no job lined up. School had already started, so I thought I’d see if they needed any substitute teachers every once in a while. I barely got the question out of my mouth and had a week’s worth of sub days scheduled! I ended up subbing almost every day in classes from kindergarten to 7th grade. (Oh my goodness…subbing in kindergarten when you don’t know any of the kids’ names and they don’t know their names either could be a blog post of its own!) Anyway, God opened so many doors for me that year…literally. I subbed so many days that I was able to trade my red Geo Prism in for a white Mustang. Thanks to my Jr. High science teacher, I had always wanted to be a teacher who drove a sports car! Well, God wasn’t finished working in my favor. With my foot in the door through subbing, I applied for a job and was hired as a 3rd grade teacher for the following year.
This was going to be the year! Perfect lesson plans, amazing bulletin boards (I have to say though, those were actually really great!), kids going home full of knowledge learned from me every single day. That’s not exactly how it turned out, but it was so much better. In fact, the part where I was planning on having all kinds of teacher friends did happen. I also became a part of many of the kids’ lives outside of school. I was so happy, and I was beginning to pay more attention to God’s hand in my life. How I went from moving to a new town 8 hours away and not really having a plan to having a teaching job that I loved…and a Mustang…that was ALL God’s hand.
Well, I stayed at that school for another 5 years. After two years, I was asked to move down to 2nd grade. I put on a brave face as I was being told the news, but as soon as I got in my car, I broke down hard. All I could think was that I wasn’t good enough to teach 3rd grade. Why did God open all those doors for me and get my hopes up that this would be where I was meant to be only to take that away? I understand now that sometimes God doesn’t give you what you want because you deserve more. He had something more in mind for me even though I didn’t realize it at the time.
As it turned out, after the year of subbing and the five years of teaching, I was feeling the pull to move on to another chapter. Again, I had no idea where I wanted to go. Why was this happening again? I visited with my parents about it, and do you know what we decided to do? Completely out of character for me…I still can’t believe I did this. We pulled out a Texas state map (you know…one of those old timey folded paper ones), I closed my eyes, whirled my finger around in a circle above the map and then BAM! My finger touched down on the map. Did I seriously just do that? Is this REALLY how I was going to choose my next place to live? Looks like it!
I finished out the school year and had plans to move over the summer. The town I was moving to was six hours away and quite a bit larger than I was used to. Bigger town meant bigger schools, so I wanted to give teaching in private school a try. I applied to one and was asked to come in for an interview. A friend of mine drove the six hours down with me, so I could go to the interview. We spent the night in a hotel and the next morning, I drove to the school. Oh my goodness…what have I done? The traffic! Oh, so much traffic! The only opening at the school was a 5th grade position. I interviewed with eight then-current teachers. They laughed when I told them about the traffic! I felt the interview went well, although I felt a bit nervous about a possibility of teaching big, tough 5th graders. Right after the interview, I had to get on the road and drive the six hours back home. I left the school feeling pretty confident about everything. I had already put it in God’s hands, so whatever was meant to be, will be.
Now remember, my interview was for the only opening…the scary 5th grade. God had already been opening doors for me just to get that far, but He was not finished. As I was driving all those hours home, God was at work for me. When I got home, I had a message from the school on my answering machine. Yes…one of those machines that sat on a table at home! Come to find out, after my interview and just as I was leaving the parking lot, the current 2nd grade teacher came up to the school to tell them she would be resigning for the next year. The principal said when she told the interviewing teachers about the new job opening, they unanimously said, “We need to put Darla there!” What…how did that happen?
I’ll tell you how that happened. God had that in the works all along! His timing was perfect then and His timing is perfect now. We just have to trust Him.
I may not be where I am going to be forever, but I am right where I’m supposed to be for now…all because I chose to put it in God’s hands.
