It's been a crazy and long year!

Well as I have told EVERYBODY all day, I am going to be a teacher. Like a real teacher... have my own little class, plan my own little lessons, and decorate my own little room. It's quite crazy actually how perfect the Lord's timing and planning and such is, so I will take you for a quick look at the journey that has brought me to this sweet day!

After leaving Ruston, I moved in with the Sister and Brother-in-Law in Longview, TX, seeking something new and different and trying to figure out where in the world the Lord would have me. But I quickly learned that nothing was working out as I had envisioned it. Friends were few and far between (if thats how the saying even goes), jobs were almost as sparse, and life was just lonely and exhausting. I struggled quite a bit with the Lord as I tried to understand what was going on and what He was doing with me there. A side note: I think it is a great thing to struggle with the Lord on occasion because it forces you to question Him, to beg Him to help you to understand what's going on, and to seek Him even when you don't want to because you know it's all you can do. Not to mention you know He is right and good and that He is working it all out for the good even though it's hard to see at times. ANYWAYS I learned a great deal living with Nicole and Phil, subbing in the different schools, and being on my own/being the newby. I learned things like what it was like being the new person at church or at work and how I can reach out to those people now, and I got new ideas for teaching and my love and desire to teach only grew. I can also move forward knowing that I tried it and it didn't work. So even though it was rough, I have no regrets and would do it all over again just to learn what I did during that time and to have met the great people I did while I was there. Plus it was a sweet time for me and my sister to have.

And that all brings me to God's perfect timing in bringing me home. I came home Feb 28th! 1st I absolutely 100% love being back with my family, so much that words can't even express. The time away was just very good for me seeing how great I have it when it comes to my family! 2nd I got a great job at Sylvan that has just worked out wonderfully. 3rd on April 4th life got a little crazy, when we found out about mom's breast cancer. I cannot imagine being away during all of that!! I was able to help out around the house and with her and spend sweet time with her while she was home from work. I mean I didn't have a job and it was perfect (which was not how I have been feeling about unemployment up to this point in the least!) because it freed me up to help out and hang out:). Then when the time was right God opened up the door for me to get a job right close to home, teaching 2nd grade reading and grammar at a little Baptist church school!

I will get more detailed with that in my next blog but for now I will leave you with this:

Things may take a while to make sense, but He is beautifully faithful and will bring things about in perfect and sweet timing!!! It's hard to see looking forward but wonderful to see looking back and seeing all that He has done. Trust me waiting is not my favorite thing to do, but it's very worth it!