About a year ago I started really
thinking about what I wanted to do with my teaching certificate once I finished
school. I fantasized about my dream classroom: color coordinated bins, bubbly
fonted posters, a completely categorized classroom library, and some sort of
live animal, the whole nine yards. Then I started dreaming about location:
Florida, California, somewhere on the beach, somewhere it’s warm. Lastly it
came down to what type of school, do I want to be in a public school or a
private school. As I pondered about the challenges that both settings presented
I was confronted with the idea to change my standards. What if I didn’t focus
on what would be optimal for me, but optimal for my students? What if I stopped
focusing on my wants and started thinking about their needs? As I let my mind
wonder a little I thought about the sacrifices I would be willing to make to
offer my best to students who need it the most. This is when my heart changed.
At the beginning of January I
started chasing these thoughts. My Dad and I, along with our church, prayed and fasted for 21 days. I had
originally thought that through this fast I would be overwhelmed with answers
and solutions. That was foolish. It was foolish to think this would be an easy
decision or a quick process. It was a long battle that Satan fought hard at to
win; I was confronted with doubt, insecurities, temptations, and what seemed
like silence. Even though I was whole-heartedly seeking God’s direction, I felt
like He wasn’t communicating with me. I didn’t hear any audible answers or have
a vivid dream with any clear directions. And I never got that. What I received was light, like a breeze. It
was calm, like an emerald gulf wave. That peace I received wasn’t what I was
looking for, but it was exactly what I needed. First Corinthians 3:16 says
“Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the
Spirit of God lives in you?” And that’s completely how I felt, I felt like the
answer came from within me and it had been there the whole time. There was
never anything foreign, confusing, or even new about it. I was going overseas
to be a missionary, and that was that.
Soon after the 21 days, a small
Christian school in the Philippines found me. Faith International Academy educates the children of
missionaries on the island and were in need of teachers for the upcoming school
year. As it turns out, they were on the look out for me and I was on the look
out for them. This school is in Davao City, located on the southern most island
of the Philippines and I will be their primary kindergarten teacher next year. I
look forward to treading on this new path God has laid out for me, and I’m
excited that y’all will be embarking on that journey with me as well!
Davao City, Davao Region, Philippines
