serendipity and a teacher's hope

Do you ever feel like God is telling you, "You are exactly where you are supposed to be."?

Well, I do and over this past year He has practically been yelling it at me.

I'm a little stubborn and maybe a tiny bit of a control freak. I like to feel like I control situations in my life. Guess what, I DON'T. I never have and I never will. The Lord took control of me and my life a long time ago, THANK GOODNESS, because I shutter to think where I would be today if He hadn't.

Sometimes God does things to continue to remind me that He has my back. He's good like that.

Let me preface what I'm talking about by telling you that since I knew my numbers and letters, the number 3 has been my favorite number because it is an E backwards. Pretty simple. I chose "3" my whole childhood in things, and as I got older I loved it because it is also a symbol for the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Ghost). 3 was my number in sports and if I was lucky I even got to pick 33. I love the number 3!! Okay?!

Then this boy Judson came along, you may have heard me talk about him before. After 3 months of dating we told each other we love each other. At 9 months of dating (3x3=9, yeah I'm a math teacher) he proposed to me with a ring that has 3 diamonds on top. I see You, God, telling me I'm where I need to be.

The only date in the whole entire summer that we would be able to get married was August 3rd, 2013. August THIRD. two thousand THIRTEEN. So many people thought we were rushing it, but God knew. He set it up in a way that assured me. Good one, God!

And it was perfection.

When it came to the stress of job searching and TOWN searching, it was really hard for me to not have control over the situation. Our number one priority was Judson getting a job and then I would find whatever I could. Well San Saba asked for both of us and offered Judson his dream teaching and coaching job. They told me I would be teaching 5th grade math. 5th grade is at the MIDDLE SCHOOL. Not even elementary school anymore! That really made me uneasy.

I have always seen myself teaching little ones. I'm good at teaching little ones. I'm comfortable with teaching little ones. These are BIG ones! Same height as me ones. Pre-pubesent ones. Will they like me? Will they respect me? Doubt. Doubt. Doubt. Unsure. Unsure Unsure.

Is this where I'm supposed to be? Am I doing what I am supposed to be doing?

The principal gave me a tour of the school and brought me to my classroom. Classroom number 3.
MIND BLOWN.

I literally giggled out loud and said, "Classroom number 3, huh?" My principal said, "Yup, this is your classroom. Classroom number 3."

I said, "That's perfect. It's my favorite number." as I beamed inside knowing God was once again telling me that He pre-designed this all for me.

So there's another story of God's faithfulness. I couldn't get it all out of my head today as I was decorating my room.

As I scooted desks around, organized books, and studied my kids previous STARR results, I had butterflies in my stomach. There's so many things I'm nervous about as a first year teacher, but there's so many MORE things I'm EXCITED about.

I’m excited to know their personalities. I'm excited to hear their discussions. I’m excited to see all the good that I know is lying within them. But, the thing that I am most excited about is getting to tell them:

You are so loved. You are valuable. You can make a difference in this world.

I want those messages to radiate through them every day, every week, every month. I hope that all my words and all my actions represent those things to them. My hope is that someday those messages will stick, that they will bury so deeply in their hearts that they will KNOW them to be true.

I will leave you with this picture of Judson at his new coaches office desk because even though he hasn't said the words exactly like I just said, I KNOW he feels the same way about all of his football boys and his students. Sharing the same passion is really awesome. And, look how cute he is!