Saturday, September 27, 2014

This Wasn't MY Plan

Well, look at that. . . I am managing to write a post before the end of 2014!

I feel bad for not posting.

At first, I didn't post because things were busy, although there were some funny things to post about.  The rest of my long-term sub job went well, although Gracie very nearly lost her life before it was all over.

See, the rest of the weeks of my long-term sub assignment went at the same pace as the first ones I wrote about.  One week I did the grocery shopping on my way home on a Monday, pulled into the garage, dumped the grocery bags on the counter and instructed Gracie to put the groceries away while I took Maggie to her violin lesson.  Fast forward an hour and a half.  I pull into the garage, walk into the kitchen, and the groceries are still on the counter.  Including all the dairy and meat.  I was speechless.  When I finally was able to speak, I asked Gracie what was so all-fired important that she failed to put away the groceries, and she replied:

"I just needed a little 'me time.'"

Talk about apoplectic.  I told her to run to her room, because I wasn't certain what I might do next.

'Me time'.

I had almost forgotten what that was.  

Needless to say, I put away the groceries and calmed down, and Gracie lived to see another day.

I finished my sub job and updated my resume.

I didn't post then, because I was a little sad that my job had finished, and I didn't have much to post about, and the 'me time' grocery story was still a little too fresh for the telling.

The end of the spring semester drew near, and I heard that there would be openings in our local district for three positions whose current occupants were retiring.

I printed out the updated resumes and hit the job fairs and roundtables, and anything else I though might help.  My friend that I subbed for in the neighboring district decided to stay home with her children next year, so I applied for that too.

I interviewed for some of the positions, while others closed without me getting a call.  My interviews seemed to go well, but then the phone call would come.

"We thought you interviewed well, but. . ."

"You were our second choice, but. . ."

I even got one letter that named the person they chose instead of me.  "Now, why did they do that?" I wondered.  "Do they want me to make a little voodoo doll and stick pins in it?"

I have lots of friends in the district that were rooting for me.  You always hear about how job hunting is about who you know, but that didn't seem to be true in my case.  

My lack of teaching experience began to seem insurmountable.

I decided to apply for a jobs as an assistant, just to get my foot in the door, and I didn't even get a call for an interview, just an automated notification that the jobs were filled.

Now I was in a funk.  I was getting rejected for jobs I was well overqualified for.

I certainly didn't want to blog about that.

But the good thing is that God didn't leave me in a funk.  I lay in bed one morning, listening to my favorite contemporary Christian radio station, and they talked about how what you think about yourself becomes a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy.  I decided that from that moment on, I would not listen to the negative voice in my head, but that my mantra would be what I know to be true:  "I am a child of God, and He has a plan for me."  I had not a clue what that plan was, but I knew it would be okay.  Even if God's plan was for me to still be at home, that was okay.

As the end of summer approached, I made plans to go on my annual end-of-summer scrapbooking getaway with my sister.  I had told her that if I didn't have a job, I would go, so we headed to Round Top, Texas, and had a very good time getting lots of work done on our scrapbooks, and eating at the renowned Royer's Round Top Cafe. (Yum!)

Just before I left, I got a text from a friend, saying that there was an opening in a rural district to our north for a K-12 librarian.  I debated about whether to apply or not, but it was a long way out for a daily commute.  I'd think about it over the weekend.

The day we got back to Oklahoma was schedule pick-up day for Gracie, so we headed to her middle school to get her schedule and have a quick cello lesson.  While she was in her lesson, I waited in the media center.  My phone rang, and I saw it was a librarian friend in our school district.  She was calling to give me a heads up on an unexpected opening.  One of the new hires lived in that rural district to our north, and she decided to take that job instead of the one in our town, leaving an opening.

That night, as soon as the posting was up, I submitted my resume.

The next day they called and scheduled the interview.

The next day I interviewed.

That evening, while shopping for school supplies at Wal-Mart, they called and offered me the position.  I tried to remain calm while I accepted, but ultimately embarrassed my youngest child by being, "A little too excited about all this," dancing down the aisles at Wal-Mart singing, "I've got a job, I've got a job!"

The next day I filled out HR paperwork.  The background check would normally take a week or more, but because I was a current substitute with the district, they had everything they needed, so. . .

The next day was my first day.

You know what?  When I was in despair, asking why I wasn't getting a job, God was being exceedingly good to me, but I couldn't see it.

Since I didn't have a job during the summer, I was able to spend it fully focused on having fun with my girls.

Since I didn't have to report for new teacher training, I was able to spend a weekend with my sister, catching up, enjoying 'me time', and scrapbooking.

Since I didn't have a job in front of me, I was spared any worry of what I was stepping into and whether I would be up to the task.

Yes, I can see now, and I see that His plan was so much better that my plan.

It always is.

And that's something I want to blog about.