I Make A Difference....Do You?

My friend Mary over at Life in a Small Town did a post yesterday on making a difference and it was so inspiring that I felt like I needed to follow suit today.  I did not grow up wanting to be a teacher.....heck to be honest when I was in high school....high school was the place I wanted to be farthest away from.  I hated the place.....I am living proof that God has a sense of humor....because here I am 24 years later....at high school....everyday.  When I was a little girl I wanted to be a mommy.  That is what my mom did...and that is what I wanted to do.  When I was in high school I wanted to be a vagabond and travel all over the world with a backpack and a guitar....with no roots to hold me down.  Gone were the days of being a mommy.  I wanted to live in a kibbutz somewhere in Colorado.  You have to remember that I was a product of the 60's/70's.  When I was in college...I wanted to be Dr. Watson B. Duncan III.  I did not want to TEACH....I just wanted to be like him.  I discovered that English was wonderful in his classroom.  When I was 19 I came to Alabama to live with my grandmother and help her out.  I worked in a cotton mill sewing gussetts in thermal underwear....this was not for me!  Eighteen months later...I was back in school to get a business degree.  I married at 21, became a mommy...of two precious little ones (ages 4 and 5).  Ok...so much for a dream fulfilled.  I loved being a SAHM and then when they both were in school I managed my Dad's and Husband's business - Sasser and Harrell Electric Co.  I loved it.  Managing their schedules, bills, etc....it was so much fun.  At 26 I had Kat and life was perfect.  Then it happened!  When Kat was 18 months old....I taught a Sunday School Class and heard God's voice say, "This is where you belong."....I fought it for several months and then one day....stopped in to the bank to make a deposit and saw a sign that said, "Do You Want to Go to College?'....I talked with the bank officer and next thing I knew I was enrolled in college....I was going to be a Social Worker......NOT!  God shut every door imaginable on this journey...and kept opening and trying to shove me through the door to education.  I was not having it!  Finally, when Kat was two....I heeded the call and went into the field of education.....reluctantly.  I blossomed here.  I had been a SAHM for so long that I had lost sight of who I was.....everyone knew me as Ronnie's wife, the kid's mom, my parent's daughter....but no one knew ME!  In college I found not only a passion....but myself.  My first difference....was that I became SOMEBODY!  My first job was in a small county system where I taught part-time for five years.....and still managed the business.  Then, due to proration, I was pinked and without a job.  I thought I would die.  I felt like God had forgotten me.  But...in my darkest hour....he sent me a message.....there was a job opened in Coosa Co.  just for me....I applied and it came down to me....and one man.....the man got the job....but I did not despair here...because he currently had a job at the school I now teach.  I applied for THAT job....and got it...two days before school started.  I didn't care....I was where I was supposed to be.  No...my job is not always a piece of cake....there are days when I am so exhausted when I leave I can barely move.....there are days...like yesterday when a child had a grand mal seizure in my room and I have to react calmly....when I want to run screaming down the hall.  I have had my nose broken trying to break up a fight....I have had my tires slashed in the school parking lot.  But...for every bad thing that has happened...there are countless good ones.  I have several students who teach Spanish now....why?  Because of me........I DID become Dr. Duncan....and I wasn't even trying.  I teach....not for the money....and not for the myth that teachers get three months off in the summer (BTW...we got out June 2nd and started back on August 2nd....and I attended three workshops during that time).....if you are a nurse on a on seven off seven plan....you only work 6 months out of the year....so I wish people would get off our backs about what we make and how many months we work....I don't hear you saying that about nurses.  Nope!  I teach because it is my passion....there is nothing more fulfilling about seeing that lightbulb come on in a student.  I teach because I love these kids.  I teach....because God called me here....and I answered the call.  I teach because this is MY personal mission field.  I teach....because I truly believe I can make a difference.  Happy Thursday and thank you Mary for reminding me why I do what I do.