AJ and a LATTE

I have never been one to like change and I adjust to it even worse than I like it!!  A classic example is my blogging time.  My original intent was to drop a new blog every Tuesday.  My favorite time to write is between 4:30 and 5:30 in the morning.  Over the last month, my body clock has not cooperated with my desire or my alarm clock!  By the time I slothfully grumble out of bed I hit the shower at a snail-pace run to get to school on time.  By the time I drag my weary bones home, I can’t think to write!  My mind whirs with the ideas I want to put on paper but the thoughts are moving faster than my motivation!  I hate it when that happens!

So, to the change in when I shall blog for now, it will vary. No one loves inconsistency! I hope you can forgive my flightiness and hang with me during this season.  I am hoping with the passing of marching band and so many after school self-created activities that I can get back on my original plan.

Now to those other changes.  God has worked big on me many many times in my life.  Last Christmas was one of those life altering times. He gave me permission to step back and be who I know He created me to be rather than working so hard to live up to a self-perceived level that I would never be able to attain. In that I have done a ton of soul searching.  Y’all!  For someone who loves ducks in a row, the squirrels in my attic have been chasing the ducks! haha!  So many dreams and ideas have been coming to life right before my eyes.  Opportunities to grow and be a better me have literally been falling in my lap.  I am being faithful and trying to follow without too much hesitation.  (He does know the hot mess he created!)  One of the largest changes in my life has come to the forefront.

I have always heard teachers say, “When you know…you know.”  My body has reacted to the constant level of stress I have placed on myself and gotten so tired.  My mind has felt the toll of these physical changes.  I love my kids.  I love my job.  I love my life.  It is time for a change.  For the first time in my life, I am taking a leap of faith and stepping out trusting that He will be faithful in my journey.  I am announcing my retirement from public education.  I have loved my 31 years.  It has really been so much longer than that. I started tutoring friends in sixth grade. I began teaching some private flute as a junior in high school.  I have never had a time in my life when I wasn’t teaching.  My mind, my body and my soul are tired.  

A dear friend told me of a potential part time opportunity that could be a post-retirement job, but it is still a very remote possibility.  There is actually a higher chance it won’t work out than it will.  Knowing this chance is out there, however, gave me the courage to start thinking about this change.  I want to love on my kids the way they DESERVE to be loved on by an elementary music teacher.  I can’t physically do that anymore.  It is time to allow someone else the chance to build a legacy of love in this place.  I don’t know how much my kids learned from me, but I hope they know they were loved.  I do grieve not being with my kids as they move through their elementary years and some through high school.  There have been many tears shed in making this decision, but as I look in the faces of my kids, I know it is time.

Now, as I face the uncertainty of the world but the Faithfulness of a Father, I ask that you pray for my future endeavors. My prayer is that doors open and close to His will giving me the path He desires for me.  I know He can still use me to make a difference.  My immediate plan is to hope for the opportunity on the table, put out feelers just in case, and make a final decision about May 2025 vs. May 2026 by spring break.  The immediate plan is 2025 but the electric and mortgage companies do have some say in that decision.  I humbly look forward knowing I have some great opportunities in the works because my God is good.

Until next time…