First off, I have not meant to be gone off the blogging world for such a long time. But so many things have happened in the last several months. To hopefully keep me from veering too far off the "normal" path...I'm going to put this post again in my normal organization: Past, Present, and Future. That way, I can update on what HAS happened, what IS happening, and what I hope eventually WILL happen. Let's just sum it up this way....things have changed!
Past
So...before writing out this post, I had to read (or more importantly, skim) some of my previous posts to see where I was in everything. Ironically, in a good six months time...the updating is not too far from the beaten path. Let's see...my last post was in June. I was struggling...financially, emotionally, pretty much on many levels. My heart was in about fifty-seven places. For one...I knew I was in love with living in North Carolina. But...as I explained in my June post, the thoughts of moving back to Ohio were hitting a little closer to home. So pretty much here's how that panned out.
I went back to Ohio in July for a friend's wedding. Before leaving to go back to NC, my dad and I sat down and tentatively set a date to move back to Ohio. By that point, I was a little okay with that plan. Job prospects weren't working out, I was running low on money, hope, and occasionally, faith. And as I said in that post in June...there were some great things that could come out of being back in Ohio. I set that date with my dad with the idea that I'd have a job before then and the whole crisis would be adverted.
However, that wasn't God's plan. And by the middle of July I was giving my 2-weeks notice to my retail job. And on August 13, exactly a month after I had arrived for my adventures in NC, I was saying goodbye to it all. Put simply: I was miserable. Because as I kept telling myself the whole way back to Ohio, I wasn't really going back willingly by choice. I was going back because I had run out of money and was at a loss. What a way to think! I mean...seriously...what good was there going BACK to the land of corn fields, flat lands, and being an "independent" 24-year-old, who would now be living in her parents' basement.
But as the move back to Ohio had been looming, I started becoming proactive. I started praying...and thought of some of those things that had made me dislike Ohio and made North Carolina look so amazing. And then I started acting on those. It started with an email to the children's director at church. One of the things I had learned from my time in NC...where I wanted to serve. For a while I had sworn to myself that I wasn't going to go back to my church "home" when I got back to Ohio. This was the new-and-improved-moved-away-from-corn-field-land Bethany! But...then again I thought maybe I needed to see it in a bit of a different light. So I looked into serving in other areas. I love working with children...and I love to sing and dance (thanks to the children's director at my church in NC). By the first weekend I was home, I was already in talks with the people in charge of the children's worship time at church...and getting my name on the schedule for my first time leading!
Then...I tackled the employment thing. Before leaving NC...I started looking for jobs in Ohio...and actually found one...and was offered an interview a day or two after moving back to Ohio. This was at an arts charter school that I had actually applied to last year when I was frantically looking for a job. Unfortunately, that job didn't work out. So, I went back online to all my trusted resources for finding jobs...and found another charter school in Toledo to apply to. Went in for an interview on a Monday...and was offered the job that afternoon! Granted...I am now teaching 5th grade Language Arts and Social Studies at a charter school in Toledo.
Even though at first the idea of moving back to Ohio seemed so wrong...God has made this into the best decision possible. New friends, new ministries, new schedule, new job. In a way...I feel like a new PERSON back in Ohio.
Present
So, where does that leave me now? Well...in a comfy spot. I'm happily employed (our 4 snow days postponing the return to school has been a little nice too). I'm financially stable. Things seem to be going pretty well. But here's where it now comes down to missions.
Now that we've officially hit the new year, I'm being posed with an interesting question: what do I do this summer? You see...with the new job, as a teacher, I am actually being paid on a 12-month salary. With that said...even when we hit the summer vacation, I will still be receiving my regular salary until about mid-August. I can sit on my butt and do NOTHING for a whole summer...and get paid a beginning teacher's salary to do it! But knowing me...especially after this nicely extended winter break...I will be needing something to do. My mom poses this question to me fairly regularly. Because for once in my life...the options are semi-endless. I could start a master's degree. I could just take random classes in something I want to try (underwater basket-weaving, anyone?). I could look into something completely new and different (Ohio Scottish Games...and Highland dancing). I could try something new. I could get a random part-time job. Or...the one that's been making me think a lot...I could do a missions trip.
I have the money. I have the heart. I even have an active Ohio teaching license to teach English to middle schoolers. Seems like a fool-proof plan...right? And right now...that seems like the best plan. I'm single...I have no kids...and I have the funds to support myself in a foreign country. So why not? So here's where the dilemma comes. WHERE??? There are so many places I'd love to go: Thailand, Ireland, England, Germany, anyplace tropical, surrounding countries of any already said countries. I've thought of going back to Thailand to revisit the orphanages again. Or to Kenya and look into The Kilgoris Project that my church in NC supports. Or to El Salvador to work with a set of missionaries I met in college who spoke at Campus Fellowship several years ago. For an indecisive girl...that's a lot of options! Asia sounds like a better idea for the "missions" side of things and for the potential of teaching English. But I've always wanted to go to Europe.
Future
So, as Ohio thaws out from our early 2014 snow-pocalypse...I'll start thinking of warmer places...and times. Last night, before going to bed...I had a really bad headache and stupidly took a couple Excedrin. Smart to kill a headache...but Excedrin has caffeine in it. Granted, I was WIDE awake for several hours last night when I should have been sleeping. In my caffeine-induced state, my mind started thinking about missions...and it made me so happy. So that's what my future looks like now. Continuing on the "new" path I'm on...and praying for direction. Like...literally...a direction to go (north, south, east, west, way west, way way west, far east, middle east, south east...who knew there were so many directions?). I'm praying that over the next few months, God moves in me to show where He wants to take me. I'm willing, and I have what I need. Now I just need a destination. And who knows...maybe He'll keep me in the lower 48 for some other kind of plan. So, friends, join me in praying for the direction God wants me to take to be shown.
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