Meant For This

This week has been designated as a week to honor teachers here in my neck of the woods. I shared in another post [Right person, Right Place -Destiny Moments] that this career was never on my vision board growing up. My pastor suggested it and I tried it! One of the best decisions I have ever made. I was trained to teach the sciences and pretty much taught a mixture of all at some point [ biology, chemistry and physics]. Today I teach English to speakers of other languages. Go figure! I was never ‘trained’ for this but was prepared and called into it. I love my job. What I do each day feels like ‘breathing’. I was meant for this.

Could it be that you are in a season of preparation now? You are walking through things that don’t seem to make sense. There may be more questions than answers. You might even be feeling a bit of discomfort. Sometimes the season of preparation requires a bit of shifting, rearranging, and pruning. The cutting away can be painful or at the least uncomfortable. The preparation often takes a while. This is when we are prone to question if we are in the right place. We start to ponder the ‘what ifs’ and ‘what could have or might have been’. Be encouraged – You’re exactly where you’re meant to be. You didn’t miss anything and you’re not late.

When I first migrated to the US, I didn’t necessarily like my first job. In retrospect, I now see how God used it to prepare me for this moment. My coworkers were 98% foreign nationals. From countries including Korea, Panama, Nigeria, Philippines, Russia, Poland, Algeria, England, China, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. Most of them would seek my help with their language challenges. Although they all spoke English, they would consult me with their writing, grammar, and/or pronunciation. Some would say, ‘I feel comfortable with you’. Today, nearly 30 years later, my students are from these countries. I didn’t see that coming.

Truthfully, this was one of the least favorite jobs I’ve had in this country, but I loved the people. Every opportunity I got, I listened to their stories. My fascination with culture began there. I became comfortable with all the different accents. Today, ever so often my students would marvel at my ability to understand the wide range of accents in my classes. I was prepared for this. In college, many foreign nationals [ non-English speaking] were drawn to me in classes – adding Japanese and Brazilians to the list. The last full-time job I had before this one added other Latin American countries to the list along with many Middle Eastern coworkers and clients.

We don’t always get the complete picture. Allow God to continue writing your story – don’t try to control the pen. As you remain on the potter’s wheel and stay faithful to where you are now positioned, the pieces will all fit together. As they say, ‘bloom where you are planted’. When the time for transplanting is right, you will be replanted to the space God designed for you to occupy. Be patient – you were meant for this.

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