What A Crazy Week

I finally got a job.

Last Wednesday didn't exactly go as I had expected it to go. I got a call in the morning on Wednesday letting me know that I didn't get the job I interviewed for the week before. It didn't really bother me all that much. I was okay with it. I was just starting to get into a groove and really enjoying my time at home with my girls. I know, you'd say that after THREE months of being unemployed, why was I just now starting to get used to being a stay-at-home mom? Well, I was so consumed with trying to find a job that it took me a while to be satisfied with where God had me. I was obsessed. I was checking district websites multiple times a day just to see that just maybe they'd post something through the course of the day, and I wanted to be the first person to apply.

It took me quite some time to finally admit the fact that I just might not get that job after all, and that I would just end up getting a job for the Fall. I was okay with that. Really. I was. Wednesday afternoon I was sharing with Aunt Kim (whom we live with right now) that I didn't get the job and that it didn't really bother me all that much. Right in the middle of our conversation, I got the call. I was told that the person they offered the job to was unable to commit to the position, so they called me instead. What a shock that was! I was totally and completely caught off-guard. Especially considering the fact that I had just finished saying that I was okay with not working until this Fall.

I was completely speechless. I couldn't believe it. The one thing I wanted so badly for what seemed like an eternity was finally within my reach. The real kicker was that this job was EXACTLY what God had promised to me all those months ago. He told me (in a dream) that I would be teaching at a new school and that I would start in the middle of the school year. The thing that gets me every time was that in my dream I was signing to my students in Sign Language. It seemed foolish to turn something like this down, so here I am a week later and that is exactly what I am doing. I am now the new 1st and 2nd grade teacher at the Deaf school here in town. How amazing.

I did have the opportunity to observe the previous teacher for only one day, but it was better than going in without prior exposure to an environment that is so incredibly different than anything I have ever experienced before in my life. This week has most definitely been very difficult learning new rules, procedures, and all the ins and outs of a new school, but it has also been extremely difficult getting used to teaching a group of students whose needs are much more intense and extreme than any I have worked with before. One thing that I do know is that I am exactly where God wants me to be right now. There is no doubt in my mind about that. These kids need me just as much as I need the exposure to something like this.

Right now I am considered as the long-term substitute teacher and it is very likely that I will not be hired for the following school year, but at least this is something to get my foot in the door. I have wrestled for many, many years about whether or not I want to get my Master's degree in Deaf Education and this is the opportunity I need to help me decide if this is something God wants for me. There are a lot of variables as to whether or not I decide to pursue the degree starting this Fall, or if I decide to wait a few years first.

Right now, I am happy for the job, for the students that have already impacted my life so much, and for God's unfailing faithfulness and provision for me. I sit here in awe of how God continues to provide at just the right time and not a moment sooner. I don't deserve it, but I am most definitely grateful. Yay, God!

Me? Impulsive? Maybe Just A Little

I've never really been an impulsive person.

It's just not me. I am so far from being impulsive, I almost have to look up the definition in the dictionary. Most of the things I do are mostly well thought-out and I rarely regret doing what I do...until today. Today was the day I actually acted upon an impulse, and now I'm seriously feeling quite a bit remorseful. It's not completely my fault, though. I blame my phone.

I have been having serious problems with my phone lately, and I have had enough. Over the past few months I've been experiencing more and more issues with my phone which has resulted in a growing aggravation with the phone itself. You name the problem, I've experienced it.

Here's a list of reasons why I acted impulsively today: (which I will share shortly what I did)

1. My phone rarely rings when someone is calling me. Yeah, I know. It's a phone; it's supposed to ring, right? Wrong. Not my phone. Everyone else gets a phone that rings, so why can't I have one too? Is that too much to ask? I think not! Don't even think of suggesting that I check to see if I have my phone set up to ring when someone is calling, I have checked numerous times!
2. While having an instant message conversation with someone, my phone will exit the screen and not allow me to return to my conversation. When I am finally able to return to my conversation, my phone refuses to allow me the privilege of continuing my conversation which results in a one-way conversation. It gets very upsetting to those who are trying to talk to me. They then get so frustrated that I do not respond to their texts, so then they call me. See problem #1.
3. My phone freezes up several times a day. Yes, I get that stupid hourglass thing that just continues to rotate without solving my problem.
4. Because my phone freezes up so often, I end up having to remove my battery countless times a day! That should not be happening, PEOPLE!
5. I have the privilege of receiving e-mails to my phone. Sounds nice, right? Not when the ONLY e-mails I get are JUNK e-mails! All the people on my safe list do not get forwarded to my phone, but all those who are in my junk box get forwarded to my phone! SO FRUSTRATING!!!

Over the past several days, weeks, months, whenever it was that I started having these serious issues, I have been seriously tempted to just run over my phone with my car. Being the rational person that I am, I stop myself before I get too far with that idea and realize that doing so would produce a much grater problem than necessary. Today, however, I gave in to that impulse and did something really stupid.

By the time it was 11:00 this morning, I had already missed at least three phone calls because my phone didn't ring (see problem #1). I was already beyond the point of getting annoyed. While driving home from an outing with my girls, I received a text from my sister (see problem #2) and was starting to get even more aggravated. As you can see, my frustration and lack of compliance from my phone had escalated this situation past reconciliation. I finally gave into my impulse and I threw my phone.

I didn't think it would be that big of a deal until I realized that I could no longer see where my phone went. You see, I threw my phone towards the passenger seat by the floor. My phone bounced a time or two and suddenly disappeared. I think it went up around the wires or behind some of the plastic covering that is stuck to the door or something. My only problem is that I can call my phone to see where it is, but again, it doesn't ring. I gave in to my sudden impulse and it didn't pay off one little bit. I don't feel the slightest bit satisfied with my decision. Here I have created a bigger problem than the one I had before.

"Just get a new phone," you might say. Yeah, that is easier said than done. I have already tried that avenue a long time ago. They don't seem to care that my phone doesn't do what a phone is supposed to do. I don't understand how I am expected to deal with the phone I now have and to suffer with it for much longer! Either way I go, I am getting robbed! I have been told that I can either upgrade my phone and pay about $300 for a better phone than the useless piece of plastic I now have, or I can wait until my early upgrade date.

This sucks.