A Sign

On July 7, my world began to change. After six years at home full-time, I had begun to feel a stirring in me to teach in the classroom again. Hudson would be starting kindergarten, so Arden would be my only child at home. Financial stress had driven my inital thoughts of how to make more money. We had spent a lot of money on the move to northwest Arkansas, exterior drainage issues in our yard, and unexpected car repairs which eventually left us with needing to abandon our ten year old vehicle in June and buy a new car last month. Financial stress loomed heavily as I had also found out that my part-time job had capped the maximum number of courses that I would be able to teach, plus enrollment was low in my existing online sections for the fall semester. I randomly had the urge to check the teaching openings for the Bentonville School District website, and I saw it. There was an opening for a 9th grade English teacher at the high school. The opening was posted on 7/7/09 -- the same day that I randomly felt the urge to check.

I applied for the position which was very involved. It required typed essays, work verification from my former employers, and eight letters of recommendation. Fortunately, my secondary teachers' license was recently renewed and valid. However, my excitement was short-lived as I found out from a friend of mine who teaches in the high school that the position was filled internally from a transfer of another district teacher. I felt that God's will had been made clear, and I began to focus on my online curriculum to prepare for the fall.

The very next day, on Wednesday, July 22, I got an unexpected call to interview for an English teaching position at Washington Junior High in Bentonville. This was a 7th grade opening whose vacancy was from a transfer to the high school (the exact position that I had previously applied for!). I interviewed on Friday, July 24, and I met with the principal and three other faculty members.

The interview went extremely well and lasted well over an hour. I had been very nervous until I pulled into the parking lot, and then I felt a rush of calm and peace come over me. I felt that I was completely myself in the interview, and I really liked the principal. However, I was panicked in the final few minutes of the interview when I was told that 1 of the sections for the position was ESL (English as a Second Language) to a group of non-English speaking students. I have never taught ESL, so that was a bit stressful to consider doing that with no experience. Then, I also found out that the start date was Tuesday, August 4, which was almost a full week earlier than I had expected. I didn't realize that there were additional days of training for new hires over the regular inservice days for returning teachers. My concern was childcare for all of those days since it meant I would have just over a week to pull all this together.

I wrestled with the pros and cons of the job all weekend. I had been told that a decision would be made on Monday, July 27. We went to dinner at a friend's house on Saturday night, and I was discussing the interview with her and my fear over the ESL class and the early start date. She jokingly said, "Wouldn't it be great if the principal changed the schedule and got rid of that ESL class?" I agreed and thought that would make the job so much more comfortable for me. I prayed all weekend that God would close the door if I shouldn't go down that path. I was fine with the district hiring someone else; I just didn't want to accept a job that would be a mistake.

Like Gideon, I wanted a sign. I wanted a fleece that would show me what to do -- a clear sign from God that I was in His will. I prayed that I could sort out my stress because I couldn't tell if the stress I felt was due to the fast pace of the situation and the normal stress of change, or it was an indication that I was making a mistake.

The phone rang on Sunday night. I expected it to be a relative, so I casually answered. It was the principal from the junior high. She expressed how excited they would be to offer me the position as an English teacher at their school. I was the committee's first choice. I knew that I still had a couple of questions about the ESL assignment that I had thought of after I left the interview, so I asked the principal if I could ask a few more things about that section. She laughed and said she had changed my schedule, and that I would not have to teach ESL. My schedule would be three sections of 7th grade English.

A sign -- I had prayed for a sign. I had laughed the night before about how great it would be if God sent me a sign by having the principal change the schedule and eliminate the ESL class. This was my fleece.

I felt a complete peace about the situation. God was in this. He had arranged for me to get the job. It wasn't some mistake that I had created.

So, I accepted the position. I start next week, and students arrive on August 19.

Now, this isn't to say that I'm not having stress! It is still a lot of stress having to arrange two weeks' worth of childcare and find a full-time placement for Arden with only one week's notice! I don't "fly by the seat of my pants" very well! However, now I know that it is going to work out. I know that I can do this job well and that it is a good fit for me. This is God's plan for me and my family.

God gave me a sign.