Day 1 of the rest of my life

Monday was a pretty rough day for me. It was the end of an era as I packed up my belongings that had accumulated over the space of 5 1/2 years, and said good-bye to my fellow staff members and special kiddos that I had grown close to. In this post, I have included a picture of the card that my K-1 kiddos made for me. Through the tears, I was asking myself "Am I doing the right thing?"  It was then that God answered me with the truth. "I dropped this new job into your lap. You are needed at this new school, and you will do fine. With new and exciting opportunities, there will be sadness in the leaving."  It was true, I had been praying that God would put me where He wanted me, and He answered that prayer. God also surprised me with a hourly wage increase, something that I did not know would happen. 😊 

On Tuesday, I woke up to the radio playing "Day 1 Of The Rest Of My Life," by Matthew West. How fitting! As I listened to the lyrics, it just made it clear to me that this was clearly God's plan! Later today, I'll find the song on YouTube and post it to Facebook.  If you'd take a moment to look at the lyrics, you'll see why God put the song into my life that morning, and how fitting it is! In my Bible reading on Tuesday, the verse from Philippians 4:7 reminded me that the peace of God, which passes all understanding would keep my heart and mind through Christ. This left no doubt in my mind. I was exactly where God wanted me....for now.  

I was very nervous as I walked into my new school on Tuesday. Surprisingly, this new school has an almost identical floor plan as my previous one, so getting around and navigating was not very hard at all. I was shown into the classroom that I would be working in, and from there, I hit the ground...running. I have a great group of kids to work with. In this classroom, all of the kids' academic work is done here. They only join their class for activities such as music, PE, etc. The social skills are just not there for them to be in a regular classroom. I will not lie to you, the work is not easy, and in fact, it can be quite challenging. However, I have a great staff of people in the room to offer support and suggestions that might help me in any given situation.

A lot of my Boys & Girls Club kids attend this school, and they about flipped out when they saw that I was going to be working in their school. One of the kids told me, "This is the best day of my life." LOL.  It was comforting to walk into a new building and see a lot of familiar faces of kids that were excited to see me. I knew a few staff members as well, which was helpful to me. The staff that I have met this week have been so warm and welcoming. They knew I was a bit nervous and uncertain, and many of them came and introduced themselves and let me know that if I needed anything, to let them know. It's going to be OK.

So, on Monday, I will begin week 2 of the rest of my life. Every time I have walked into this building, I am reminded of how God takes care of His children. I am thankful that He has brought me here. I have to admit that I am in awe. I still miss my kiddos from my previous school, but I knw that they are OK, and I am excited to get to know a whole new group of great kids here. So, I'm resting up this weekend (because I know I will need it, LOL), and will be ready to jump back in with both feet on Monday. Thank you, God, for taking care of me.  

Thanks for reading, and God bless!