blessed: (adj) characterized by happiness or good fortune
Anyone who has heard the story of my life over the past few years knows how happy I am to be where I am right now.
For those of you that don't know, I spent two years teaching in a Title 1 school, which means that a certain percentage of the students live below the poverty line. I believe when I started, 80-85% of the students were on free and reduced lunch. I was not supported by the parents, with some exceptions. I was not supported by the administrators, with almost no exceptions. By September of my second year, I was ready to quit. I cried almost every day. I hated going to work. I went home exhausted from the emotional turmoil I was going through.
Somehow I made it through the first semester. And the second semester just got tougher. By the end of February, I was done. I had been praying about it, and I had lots of others praying for me, and I finally came to a decision:
I was taking at least a year off.
I immediately filled out my declaration form, turned it in to Cheryl, and never looked back. I immediately felt that a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. Many people around me were concerned because I had no job prospects lined up, but I didn't care. I felt at peace, and I knew I'd made the right decision.
In May, with a few weeks left in the school year, we were at Buffalo's for trivia one night. Jon, April's husband, had invited his mom to come with us. In the middle of dinner, he goes, "So Mom, can you get Lynn a job?" I think he was mostly joking, but she said, "Actually, we are looking for an administrative assistant, but it won't be for a few weeks, maybe not til July."
I almost fell out of my chair. I'd been looking for that exact type of job for weeks. People tell me I'm a leader, but I don't see it. I'd rather be behind the scenes, taking care of others. Making sure that they look good. I'm a Leo McGarry, not a Jed Bartlett. I'd been applying to work in doctor's offices and vet practices and the like, and now a job had literally been dropped in my lap!
Long story short, I ended up going through the interview process and getting the job. I started in the middle of July, which gave me just enough of a break from teaching to really get back to my old self again.
Fast forward six months.
I've slowly been taking on more and more responsibilities at work. Today I was given a few new (big) ones: helping out with the pre-invoicing for a project. It's one of our bigger projects that I usually help with, but we're going to start working on it before the end of the month to alleviate some of that volume of work. The second thing is to be making travel arrangements for people. We want to streamline our process and keep it from being so spread out. So I drafted an email and sent it out, saying, "Let me be your travel agent! I'll book flights, reserve hotels, schedule cars, and I'll even cancel reservations if something happens! No more stress about travel for you!"
Which leads me to the point of this entire post, which is waaaaay longer than I originally anticipated. George, one of our business development guys and our Czech consul, came by my desk and said that he was so glad that I was a member of this team. He loves how willing I am to help everyone, and he is amazed by the level of service I give to everyone. He asked if I had a lot of experience in service. I told him not in this type of service, but I've always been more of a servant. I want to help others succeed. It's why I went into teaching, it's why I spoil my niece and soon-to-be nephew (hurry up, SJ!). It's why I'm happier on someone else's birthday than my own. I love to give. And I don't need anything in return.
But you know what?
It sure is nice to have someone recognize what I do.
And you know what else?
It happens *daily* at my job. D-A-I-L-Y.
A lot of people misuse or overuse the word "blessed." But I am truly truly blessed to be where I am right now. God's timing is perfect. Trust it!
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