On May 6, 2012, I graduated from Hope College with a Bachelor of Arts in Learning Disabilities.
The day after I graduated, I drove to Illinois with my mom to do a second interview at a Christian school in the area. I left the day after feeling confident, with a guarantee from the principal that he would let me know in a few days about their decision.
Three days later, my family left for vacation in Marco Island. It wasn't so easy to relax while waiting to hear about a job I really wanted!
On Mothers' Day, the principal called me to offer me the job! I immediately sent out a joyous email to all of the wonderful professors who helped me get to this point. The coveted yellow "placed" sticker that I had dreamed about since I started at Hope was put on my picture in the education department hallway!
Fast forward to August. I packed a U-Haul full of furniture, books, clothes, kitchen supplies, and 22 years worth of memories and headed off to Chicagoland.
At the end of the month, I started the whirlwind that is known as my first year of teaching!
In March, I used one of my personal days to spend 4 days in Scottsdale, Arizona -- one of my favorite places in the world!
Over spring break, I went to Washington, D.C. with my parents to visit my brother, who spent his semester interning there with a congressman.
And now we're back to May, a year later. I was talking to my mom on the phone a couple of days ago and she mentioned the fact that I was almost a one year alum, a thought that I have had frequently over the past couple of weeks. "I just keep thinking of how one year ago, none of your students or your coworkers were in the picture." A year later and now these people are an incredibly important part of my life. This conversation, of course, led me to reflect on the past year. There's a quote that says, "If you want to make God laugh, show Him your plans." When I was younger, My plan included being married soon after graduating from college, living back in Ohio, and teaching special education at a public school. I'm currently living 6 hours away from my family, teaching special education at a private, Christian school, and my dearest friends from college (and high school) are spread out throughout the country (from Alaska to North Carolina!). I know God certainly has gotten quite a chuckle out of my plans in comparison to His. Yet again, I'm reminded of God's grace and provision in my life. While His plans did not match up with my own, I can look back and see that His plans for me were marvelous and beyond anything I could have ever imagined on my own. This in turn allows me to believe that His plans for my future will continue to be amazing!
Francesca Battistelli has a song called "Strangely Dim", a great prompt for me to stop worrying about the unknown. The bridge and chorus has quickly become important to me and something that I deeply desire in my walk.
I don't know, I don't know
What tomorrow may hold
But I know, but I know
That you're holding it all
So no matter what may come
I'm gonna fix my eyes on all that You are
'Til every doubt I feel
Deep in my heart
Grows strangely dim
Let all my worries fade
And fall to the ground
I'm gonna seek your face
And not look around
Til the place I'm in
Grows strangely, strangely, strangely dim.
So today, on the one year "anniversary" of my college graduation, I'm going to take these words to heart. I'm gonna fix my eyes on all that He is because His plans for me have been good and will continue to be good (Jeremiah 29:11). I can't wait to see what He has in store for this next year!
