Life Changes

I mentioned in my previous post that some things have changed in my life recently. And they have, drastically. On Monday, February 13, 2012, I was informed that because of enrollment and budget cuts, I would not have a job at Grandview next year.

This was not news that I was expecting or prepared for. When I first accepted the position at Grandview, I knew that it was not a permanent, life long position. At some point, I was going to move on. I had been praying for wisdom as to when I should move on and what that next step should be. But I was not thinking that time had come. God had other plans.

After losing my job, I had to figure out what to do. I began seeking God's guidance as I went through all the different options I'd considered for my life post-Grandview. Finding a teaching job in the Des Moines area? Possibility, but limited options. Finding a teaching job else where in the country? Possibility with a whole country of options. Grad school? Too late to apply for the next year, so no. Teaching overseas? Possibility, but one that I need to start working on immediately.

As I'm considering all these options, one thing becomes clear: I really want to pursue teaching overseas first, and then see what happens. Ever since I was in high school, I have been thinking about teaching overseas as a missionary. The desire to serve overseas first started after going on a few missions trips in high school, and God continued to lead in that direction in college. As part of that, I was able to do my student teaching in South Korea. I had a fantastic experience, and ever since then, I've been praying about when God would want me to go overseas again. After being laid off might just be the perfect time.

It turned out to be the perfect time indeed. A few weeks earlier, a friend had mentioned that the Network of International Christian Schools was having a job fair sometime in the middle of February. It was down in Mississippi and would give attendees the chance to interview with all the schools in the network. After looking into it, I discovered the job fair was that weekend, and registration was still open. By Wednesday morning, I had registered for the fair, bought my plane tickets, and was working on booking hotel rooms. Registration closed that evening. The job fair was only on Saturday, so I would be able to travel on Friday and Sunday. However, I did not have to take Friday off, because it was already a scheduled day off of school. Everything was coming together.

At the job fair, I had the opportunity to interview in person with three different schools: one in Indonesia and two in South Korea, including the one I student taught at. However, the school where I did my student teaching had already offered the job to someone else, so that job was a long shot. All of my interviews went well, and the two other schools wanted to do a second interview with me the following week.

A day after my second interview with the school in Indonesia, they extended me a contract for the following year. This was on Thursday, only 10 days after being laid off, and I had until Monday to decide. I was still waiting to hear back from the school in South Korea. This put me in a tough place, because I had a really good experience during my student teaching, and I was excited about the possibility to return to South Korea. But I didn't know if I was willing to say "no" simply because I was hoping another place would offer me a job.

Friday afternoon rolled around, and when I checked my email, I discovered an email from the school in South Korea. It contained a job offer. I was ecstatic! Not one, but two job offers within 10 days of being laid off, and both were really good opportunities. Now, I had just one weekend to decide which one to take. After praying and seeking the advice of others, I decided to follow my heart and accept the offer from the school in South Korea.

When I look back at the sequence of events and how everything happened, I am astounded. Within two weeks of being laid off, I had a job that I was excited about in a place where I wanted to teach. That is just unheard of! God is truly amazing and worked in my life beyond what I could ever have imagined. All the glory and praise has to go to Him.

So next year I will be teaching high school English 9-12 at Pyongtaek International Christian School in Pyongtaek, South Korea. I will share more information about the school and the job over the next few weeks.

For more information about the Network of International Christian Schools, visit their website at www.nics.org.

For more information about Pyongtaek International Christian School, visit their website at http://www.icsptk.org/joomla-1.6/index.php.