The Master Plan

I don't know about you, but "the master plan" for my life is always being modified in ways that I would have never guessed. Sometimes I am fine with the detours. Other times I am left feeling disappointed or confused or angry.

Five years ago, I would have thought that at this point in my life, I would be married and loving my career and maybe thinking about kidlets. None of these are the current reality, however, and I am learning (slowly it seems) how it really looks to embrace today. To embrace and run with all that has been entrusted to me. This type of living takes a lot of trust. Trusting in God's goodness and timing and provision...not always the most natural thing for me.

The current master plan has me resigning my teaching position so that I can go back to school full time to study clinical psychology. As I set out on this new journey, I find myself feeling excitement, mixed with fear. Is this really where God is directing? Am I being irresponsible? I guess as I continue to talk with God and my core community, I may decide that the master plan could use some work, but I am coming to expect that now. :)

White Girl on a Mission

Apparently one of the English teachers showed the film Freedom Writers in class this week, as several of my students told me that I remind them of the teacher in it. Wanting to find out if this was complimentory or not, I rented it last night to see for myself. I found that not only were my students giving me a wonderful compliment, but they were right!

The experiences of Erin Gruwell do not flawlessly parallel my own, but my goodness, in watching the film, I did feel that I had met a soulmate who understood both internal and literal battles involved in teaching the students of Los Angeles. One of my favorite scenes is Erin's first day of school. As I watched it, I just laughed because I knew EXACTLY how she felt. I wanted to tell her, "It does get better. Just give it time...a lot of time." It's May of my second year and it is only now where I am finally comfortable in my role. There are many days where I even enjoy it.

For those of you that do not know, I teach Algebra to 11th and 12th grade students at a continuation high school in Paramount, CA.

Here goes nothing

Lindsey and I were talking about how hard it is for us to talk about daily life stuff and not feel like total bores. We both agree, however, that when we are reading about other people's trips to Starbucks or new baby teeth or what was had for dinner, we really enjoy it. This blog site will be good for me to practice this awkward task and hopefully help me stay in better contact with people who live so very far and so cannot see the day to day happenings. If you're at all interested, stay tuned!