Being a teacher is the most rewarding yet exhausting job I’ve ever had. I did not set out to be a teacher. I didn’t dream of being a teacher. I actually didn’t think I could be a teacher. But God had other plans for me. I’m so glad I listened to the nudge God gave me in 2018 to become a substitute teacher.
It took me a year to fill out that application, depression and doubt derailing my chances. But I finally walked into the first classroom of tiny fourth graders terrified that I wouldn’t do a good job. But later that day after I realized they weren’t in there assigned seats I remembered what it is like to have a sub.
On day 2, I found a girl crying while on lunch duty. I asked her if she wanted to talk but she just needed a moment to feel her emotions. When we were in the classroom that afternoon, she opened up about why she was sad so I suggested she wrote her brother a letter. These kids were supposed to be writing a report but I let her and her fiends make her brother a book not simply a letter but an entire book. I saw her sorrow turn to joy and satisfaction at being able to express her grief in a creative way.
Those first three days on the classroom were grueling and still I knew based on one interaction with a child that I was meant to teach. If I could help one life then it all grew worthwhile grueling or not.
Now that I teach full time, the exhaustion has reached unfamiliar heights but so has the reward and satisfaction and joy. I wouldn’t trade what I do for anything now. I wouldn’t trade what happens in those classrooms for any amount of money or an easier job. The relationships built and the lives changed has forever changed me and provided the fulfillment I longed to have through my career in more ways than I fathomed.
Looking back, I believe God always had this path planned for me though it took me years to figure that out while I tried to forge my own path and take many wrong turns. It has taken a 100 different yes’s along the way to get here, one being saying yes to God’s plan for me when I didn’t believe in myself. God equipped me every step of the way and gave me gifts I use to benefit the lives of others. It’s the greatest joy to know you’ve made an impact on the life of a young person. I’ll never take that impact for granted .