"The LORD will guide
you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will
strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a
spring whose waters never fail." (Isaiah 58:11 NIV)
Last Friday I told how God worked in my life
to miraculously convict me that I was to take the interim job as French
consultant for my school board.
My year at the school board was very busy. My
responsibilities were numerous, but other than the fact that I missed my
students, I found the job, overall, very rewarding. I was able to help
students indirectly by helping their teachers. I also visited principals
and many others in our school board, as well as in other boards. I even
had to go out of town for seminars and meetings, and the doors were open
for me to make many new friends. I think the part I enjoyed the most was
helping new teachers, and over all, the year helped me understand how to
help students in better ways.
Prior to this year as an interim consultant, I
had been thinking about becoming a principal. I had even begun to do the
required coursework. One day, while I was working as a French
consultant, however, I took my guitar into one of the classrooms of one
of the new teachers to demonstrate how music can be used to help
students learn French. It felt so good to be back in the classroom, and
I realized then that if I were to become a principal, I would sorely
miss being able to teach students. I realized that God was using this
time as a French consultant to keep me from making a major mistake. He
knew I needed to stay in the classroom; but had it not been for my time
as a French consultant, I would have potentially left that all behind.
Towards the end of my year at the school
board, I was asked to become the French Consultant in a Catholic Board.
I politely declined the offer, for by this time I was counting the days
to be able to return to teaching. Then one day, some of my superiors
came to me with some welcome but unpleasant advice: “It would be better
for you to not return to your former school.”
I was devastated. “Why?”
The reason didn’t seem right: “Your fellow
teachers won’t treat you the same now that you’ve been working as a
consultant for the board.” Knowing the teachers at my former school,
however, I could see that this could be possible. I didn’t want them to
see me as “different”, and I certainly didn’t want them to feel
uncomfortable, so I began to apply at other schools. There weren’t many
openings, but I did receive a job offer to be a grade 5 teacher in
another nearby town.
It was tough to change school and it took time
to get to know my new coworkers; but my students were wonderful, and
that made it all worthwhile. I was very, very happy to be back in the
classroom, and I was thankful that God had miraculously kept me from
making a major mistake and leaving the classroom for good. And, as time
progressed, I began to see that God had also used the year as a French
consultant in order to make me change schools.... But that’s another
story. Stay tuned....
Sometimes God’s miracles help to give us
guidance and to keep us from making major mistakes. In Him, there is
ALWAYS Hope!