My life has always involved working with children in one compacity or another. Even though I technically did not become a teacher until late in life, I have always worked with kids. Over the last few months, I have come to the conclusion that I am not yet ready to entirely quit. I still want to do what I have always loved doing, teach. I still want to make a difference in the lives of children and their families.
Some of the searching in my heart I have done over the last two years since walking away from the classroom has allowed me to process through many of the broken pieces of my life. They all needed to be addressed for me to walk in freedom. My eyes were opened to unhealthy patterns and the source of those patterns. If I had been working, I doubt I would have felt the need to go there. The void from being in the workplace set me on a search for healing.
I learned from a dear mentor one time that what we plan in life that we think has an end to it, many times is just the means to get us to the next place. The last two years after leaving colleagues and friends at my last school I took time to travel and reconnect with family and friends across the country, process through my failures and disappointments, beat cancer, and come to a place of contentment. What I thought was an end in my endeavors have become the beginning.
Therefore, I am happy to say that I obtained a position with a national online school that enables me to work with children from home. Once again, I am encouraging kids, helping parent find solutions, and interacting with other educators. I may not be able to do all that being in a brick-and-mortar school requires, but this, I can do. I still have a lot to offer in experience and passion. I absolutely love it!
My heart has also been stirred again to write as an advocate for these our most vulnerable. I am not sure what that looks like yet, but I will. I thought my life at this point was going to consist of daily walks in the woods, sitting around the table with family, friends, and neighbors, sharing memories and creating more. And it still may be, but now I have even more of a reason to hop out of bed every morning, and to live healthy! There are children out there waiting on me to do what I have always done, teach, and hopefully, make a difference.
