Unexpected~My Announcement

Well, I'm not going to lie, my announcement is going to seem lame to some of you and downright stupid to others. I'm okay with that.

To start with; NO, WE ARE NOT PREGNANT.

Although, there would be no complaints here if we were. Only praise given to God for a new little life. But, I'm not addressing any of THAT right now. 

Some of you may have seen my sudden, unexpected (even by me) announcement that I'm graduating this semester with my Bachelor's degree. (Huzzah!) I was previously not supposed to graduate until this Fall, December to be exact. I'm an Elementary Ed. major and I still needed to complete a semester of student teaching to graduate with my teaching certificate. Student teaching is something I've been worried about for a while now. I have 5 kids, two of which are home schooled. How in the world were we going to afford childcare for them? Secondly, I have friends who have been student teachers. They spend ALL their evenings and weekends writing lesson plans. Again, 5 kids, absolutely no time for that. Doing such a thing is fairly unrealistic anyway, because teachers do NOT spend every waking moment writing lesson plans, but for some reason student teachers are expected to. Not going to go on that rant, I promise. (It's a lengthy one.) 

Now, I could certainly put the oldest two back in school and only have three kids to pay for childcare for, but honestly we don't desire to do that. Even then, my husband works 14 hours a day and I would have to be in my own classroom before the girls had to be in school and I wouldn't be able to leave before they had to get out of school. Who, then, would take them and pick them up? I knew we were short on options, but I trusted that if the Lord wanted me to student teach then He would give us a way to get through it. He has gotten us through on one income for the last 5 years I've been in school and I trusted Him not to leave me hanging without a degree. And no child is a surprise to the Lord, so I knew His plans for me included our latest three kiddos, even though they weren't around when I originally started going to school.

So, I swear I wasn't trying to get out of student teaching. I wasn't devising devious plans or making up excuses, or anything. I was simply praying and waiting for the Lord to act. Well, He did. About two weeks ago I was up at 2am nursing "J" when it suddenly hit me; what if I could get out of student teaching? I wasn't even thinking about school when this popped into my brain! I didn't even know if it was possible. In fact, I seriously doubted it. After a few more hours of sleep I got on MSU's website and began my research, which wasn't promising. All of my credits were tied up in very specific Elementary Education courses. Switching my degree plan wasn't going to happen unless I switched to an individualized degree, which seemed a pain and sketchy at best. One thing I did know; with 130 credit hours, not including the semester I'm working on now, I had plenty of credits to qualify for a Bachelor's degree. All I could do was email my academic advisor and ask if there was any way I could graduate without the student teaching portion of my degree. 

I have to admit, I was so scared she would say no and I would have to try for the individualized degree that I didn't check my university email for days. I was ashamed of my cowardice, but at the same time there was a lot riding on her answer. Then there was the doubt; was I doing the right thing? All this time I've worked for this and I'm not going to teach? What does God have planned for me, then? Then, when I had just decided I was going to check my email for an answer, my daughter broke my computer and I had no way to check for several days. (Relief! Oops, I can't check, no guilt for that!) 

Within that time frame I was wondering what in the world I could do with an Elementary Education degree if I did not have teacher certification. Then again, if we were planning on continuing homeschooling, how would I teach anyway? I cried several times, scared about the fact that my educational plan I had so carefully crafted years before was going down the drain. These things were running through my mind as I dropped my daughters off at a church sleepover Friday evening. When I saw the children's pastor come out to greet me I thought, "Hey, that might be a fun job." 

That very evening I was at home, online again after the boys were in bed, researching what I could do in the church with an Elementary Ed. degree. Quite a lot, it seemed, as I gleaned from many forums that I was not the only one to decide that I would rather not enter the Elementary Institution after getting my degree. I saw many who had opted for the church instead and I was going to start my Master's in something. I've always wanted my Master's and Doctoral degrees. So I started researching Seminary schools. (Me?! What in the world?) What I found was there were several Seminary degrees that I could get that would allow me to follow job paths that I have always been interested in and some new job paths I have just discovered. Christian author, pastor, University professor, University administrator, children's youth minister or activities director.......and just like that I knew that I was being led to a Master of Arts in Theology.

I was still unsure about it all and still had not looked to see if my advisor had approved my request. Nor did I know what I would have to do to get out of student teaching. When we got our new computer I finally decided to quit being cowardly and check my email.......and lo and behold I had gotten an email from my advisor; she had ALREADY approved my request to graduate without certification, notified the appropriate individuals and I was ready to go! I literally cried; I'm DONE with my Bachelor's degree! In a span of a few weeks I went from "How will we get through this?" to buying graduation announcements and enrolling for my Masters. It has truly given me a new zest for life and I have felt like a fresh spirit for the past few days!

It's amazing how the Lord works, isn't it? Less than a year ago I was fighting the Lord, angry at Him for something that was man's fault. Then my irrational anger came to light, along with the knowledge of who had really let me down and I begged the Lord's forgiveness and returned to the church. How could someone like me be an advantage to the Kingdom of God? When the Lord is ready to work, he doesn't waste time! In a span of two weeks my whole educational plan has been turned upside down and suddenly I'm planning to do something I'm not even sure I'm capable of (Me, a spiritual leader?! Are we sure we have the right person here?), but I know the Lord will give me strength. 

I have been accepted at Liberty University for my Master's of Arts in Theology. It will take me a year to complete, followed by my Ph.D. in Theology and Apologetics. Don't know what Apologetics is? Well, if you're on the computer you have quick access to google to look it up. And no, I won't be apologizing to anyone. ;-) 

I know I have a long way to go. I am actually scared of this new path. I am by no means perfect and I'm not even sure I'm a good role model, but I feel confident this is where I'm being led. I know there are areas of my life that I will have to work on harder than ever now because I will be a representative of the Kingdom of God (as a member of the church, technically I was already). I am excited about this new journey and I am so very ready to start my Master's classes in May.

Please pray that I have the strength and wisdom to complete this journey.

Love and Smiles,

Chala