i just don't have teacher certification in the eyes of the public schools... but God made me a teacher, and that's what i thrive on. so, today- just a little bit ago- i clicked "Submit" on an online application for the Chicago Teaching Fellowes program, saying a prayer as i did so. (Please see http://www.chicagoteachingfellows.org/ for more info.)
this program is extremely competitive, and although i know that i am a good teacher, i don't feel as though i have the best work history to get me through as a "successful professional". But i know that God wants me to teach somewhere, and this is a great program and exactly what i moved to chicago to try to do. I know that even getting an interview invitation will be completely God, and i am praying daily to trust and be peaceful about knowing that if this is where God wants to work through me, then He'll get me in the door.
this past week has been active for cindy and i in terms of "what to do with our lives". in addition to my attending the info meeting for CTF and deciding to apply, we met with the director of the chicago Mennonite Voluntary Service unit to discuss the opportunity to serve with here in the city. For Cindy especially i think this would be a tremendously positive experience. we are talking about doing it together, or cindy has said she thinks she'd do it on her own, should i end up being accepted as a teacher for the Fellowes program. either way, we are excited, and also a little apprehensive about waiting to see how God will work everything out.
we are also starting a small group study of the book and workbook called "Experiencing God" by Blackaby. This "coincidental" starting of the study at the same time we are searching for what God's will is in the next several years has been a great blessing for me.
God is good. we continue to search for gainful employment for Cindy, as her day care position had to be down-sized, much to the dismay of all involved! I am still searching for something that would allow me to teach anything to anyone, and have applied for many jobs without hearing anything back. this has been frustrating for both of us (never hearing back) but if we do end up doing VS or i do the teaching, our needs for jobs would change to needing just 6 months or so, and so the jobs that would be acceptable would change as well. maybe we haven't gotten anything because God is planning something different for us and therefore we've been applying at the "wrong" places? i dunno. but if i had gotten a job at any of the museums i'd applied at, and then had to quit after 6-8 months, that wouldn't have best served me or the museum, ya know? reevaluating the long-term plans and living arrangement, a part-time job or two until VS or teachign starts would more than suffice.
in either case, as i search for my next employment, i am blessed to be receiving unemployment benefits (from separation at last job) and we are so far managing to live on that and on cindy's part-time day care. (cindy is not eligible for unemployment.)
please keep us in your prayers, and i will keep praying for all of you, my friends and family!
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