Sorry for the break....

So Mom and Dad have been here this weekend and we had a great time visiting. Sorry for the break in reporting how things are going.

Happy Mother's Day to all you Mother's out there. May it be a sweet, sweet day as you spend time with your children and friends.

I figured I'd take this time to write more about my new upcoming job, since people are wanting to know. So here goes.......

Let me start out by saying that God is good and His plan is unfolding right before my very eyes. Although I didn't understand what was happening even as He led me through the front door of Philadelphia First United Methodist Church, it's all coming together for me now. You all know that this past year at my first job teaching in Mississippi has not been the best year for me. I started out in a classroom with no materials for the type job I thought I was going to be doing. Once school actually started, I was even more at a loss of materials when I realized I had a severe and profound multi-handicapped classroom of about 7 children. Now, let me stop here and say that although I struggled in this position, I never lost sight of the face of God in each of the children in my classroom and I never gave up that drive I have in the area of Special Education. Each child in my classroom blessed me ways I can never explain, but something just wasn't right for me there at this school the whole year long.

So one day, a social worker from a local mental health agency was in my classroom and I asked her to let me know if anything ever opened up at her work that I might be qualified for. Later that afternoon, she called me at school to tell me that Philly FUMC was looking for a Daycare/Kindergarten Director and wanted someone with some certification in education and I should call them just to see. That was on a Friday afternoon, and I immediately picked up the phone and called their office. The receptionist was giving me names and numbers of people I should contact that would know more and then said "hang on just a minute, I see someone coming through the door that is on the board and would know more". Now, what are the chances that this woman would be walking through the door on a Friday afternoon? I'll tell you what kind of chance....a God chance! We talked for a minute on the phone and then I took a resume to the church the next Monday morning. Later that night, she called me to set up a time to come in and talk with a few members of the board and just to see what I was looking for/what they were looking for.

That meeting took place and the board for the Daycare/Kindergarten was to meet the next night. Later the next night, which would now be Wednesday night (if I remember correctly), the head of the board called to tell me what they were preparing to offer and wanted to offer me the job. The big thing was getting my insurance squared away, but God promptly provided a way for that, as well. And Friday (one week from the day I made the phone call to the church) I had excepted the job officially in my head and unofficially to the few board members. The next week, everything became official. And I was headed to be the Director of Daycare Ministries at Philadelphia First United Methodist Church. To read more about this church, visit the link. http://www.phillyfirstumc.org/cgi-bin/index.pl

On June 2, 2008, I will officially take the position and the lady who had been there for the past 30 years will be going home with her grandson and enjoying her retirement. I am a little nervous about following in her footsteps, as half this town tells me she "raised" their children and she has done so much for the ministry in the church and community.

But I'm also very excited. There was a point in time when I was questioning the who's/what's/when's/where's/why's of God taking me from public education after 10 years and putting me somewhere where I would be totally out of special education, but as the year has gone on and is coming to an end, I know I can't do what I'm currently doing for a long period of time. For those of you who've always said, "it takes a special person to teach special ed", I have always replied with a "yes, but, there is a whole other end to special education that I've never done before and know I can't do and it's those special ed teachers that are especially special." I was one of those "especially special" special education teachers this past year, and it's just not my forte. So I'm excited about the journey ahead into a new career.

Basically, to make a long story short, I will be the director of the daycare at the church. BUT, they don't have an after school program and they want me to start one. And, they will be building a new building soon that I will have a hand in. So for those of you who are scratching your head as to why I'd leave public education, I just want you to know that I feel this is really where God wants me in Mississippi and I'm really, really excited. Keep me in your prayers as yet one more journey ends and another one begins!!!!!