yet a third...

I have obviously not had much actual work to do today at my work-study job. It's been nice. Not only have I been able to catch up on emails, posting, and internet reading, I also was able to get some work done for my portfolio so that I'm no longer behind. Anyway, here's what I was really going to write about...

I just had the brief opportunity to interpret for one of the Deaf teachers here at the school. (For those who don't know, we have Deaf teachers here who teach the ASL courses.) She came into the office to ask a question, in which case she would normally have to find a piece of paper and write the question, wait for the person to read the question and write a response, etc. But instead of all that nonsense, I simply told her I sign, and we conversed in a far less restrictive manner. What's my point? Well, it's more of a connection than a point. Already today I had been thinking of something which this reminded me of. To sum it up nicely (before I explain in further detail), there are no coincidences. Everything happens for a reason. God has a plan for me. Earlier I was thinking a little about what it is that I want to do with my life, which is a scary and intimidating topic most of the time. (One of the topics that gets vetoed from conversation frequently at the house because it stresses everyone out!) Anyway, today I was thinking: "I'm going to graduate with a teaching degree, but what if I don't teach? Will it have been a waste?" (In all honesty, I wasn't thinking quite that concretely about it... it was more of a vague thought.) My thoughts about that question brought me back to things that God had shown me a while back. I first came to Flagler/St.Augustine for the sole reason that I wanted to major in Deaf Education, and Flagler was the place to do that. I took all my sign language courses, but before taking most of my actual Deaf Ed courses decided that it was not the field for me, despite my love for the language. I switched majors to Elementary Ed, and was quite pleased with my decision for some time. I had determined that God wanted me to teach and He knew the only way to get me into the profession was to sneak me in by means of Deaf Ed. Otherwise, I would have gone kicking and screaming the whole way. While this is still a possible explanation, another thought has come up, as well. My new theory is that the profession wasn't where God needed to get me, He just needed to get me to St. Augustine. (For the record, I believe I will teach, but I'm not sure how long.) Regardless of anything else, I am certain that St. Augustine is exactly where God wants me to be. I have been here 2 and a half years now and have never questioned if it was right or not; I have always been confident of that. Everything here is a perfect fit for me: atmosphere, friends, church/ministries, current relationship, school atmosphere, housing situation, EVERYTHING. I could not imagine being happier or more content in another place. What a great feeling! To tie this all back in to the origional story, I just was thinking that I believe that no step along the way was a waste. I am very glad to know sign language, and I know God will use it in specific ways throughout my life, even if they are small ways like being able to help someone else communicate easier. As for being an Education major who may not remain in education, that's okay too. I will have gotten a Bachelor's Degree, which--let's be honest--is really the only thing most employers care about, and even if I don't "use" my degree, I have learned lots of interesting stuff about the ways people learn... one of those things I am interested in anyway. So that's my point, or rather my lengthy connection of ideas, for today. I'm satisfied.