I admit it, 2006 was a year that I would rather not live through again. It started out great as the family was celebrating a long overdue reunion in the Philippines and went downhill from there as Mark lost his job days after returning from our vacation.
Of course there was the financial ramifications to consider and so it really hurt us...our wallets, savings, planning and most of all our pride.
I will not go into what we had to do to survive, but it was not pretty.
And to top it off I gained 20 lbs because I was drowning my misery in chocolate and chips.
Yeah, 2006 was a total bummer!
Fast forward to 2007.
We started the New Year off at church. We had an exercise in what we would like for our partners, ourselves and our family to acheive in the coming year. Wrote it all on paper, put it in an envelope so that the church could mail it back to us in March.
I received the letter back right after Lola Debs died, I put it away, forgotten, in my grief.
My spiritual mommy, Ate Adelfa, who is also my surrogate mommy here in the US, told me that while 2006 wasn't so great, 2007 will be the year of Jubillee for me! I kinda sorta believed her, not really know what the year would bring.
2 days before Lola Debs' death, I had made up my mind that I will try and get my Teachers' Certification because I am missing my family so much that I have to do something to be able to visit them more often than every 5 years! So I looked around the internet, called Texas Teachers, an alternative teacher certification program, got what I needed to know and do and after I returned from saying goodbye to Lola, signed up to take my Special Ed Teachers' exam.
In the meantime, I had the Garland ISD (Independent School District) Job Fair to attend and I show up in my smart, new business suit (care of Tita Pops) ready to take on the world! Thank God talaga that an old church friend of mine was one of the teachers there and she told me that even though I did not pass my teacher test yet, that to go ahead and submit my resume and tell the schools that I will take the test and pass and that I will be eligible to be truly considered for the program.
I was just planning to get the calling cards of the key people of each school and call them later when I pass the test, but I am so thankful that Laura was there that day to encourage me and give me confidence in the job fair.
Praise God I passed the Special Ed Exam (pasang awa plus!) and of course the bonus was that Laura Rose, my 2nd daughter, asked Jesus in her heart and life the day after I took the test!
During our trip to Michigan, I received a voicemail from someone at Sellers Middle School wanting to schedule for an interview, and the week before that someone from Lakeview High School emailed me for an interview as well. I was not able to entertain them until I got back to Garland and then the staff and faculty were out for their summer vacation so I diligently called almost everyday until I got someone to actually pick up!
And so I called Sellers, finally got a real person to pick up and told them that I was contacted for an interview. She took my details and told me that the Asst. Principal would call me back to schedule an interview, The Principal did and we scheduled to meet July 19. So I got there and she asked what area in SpEd was I interested in, I said Content Mastery and that I like Math a lot. What she said next floored me! A teacher called her right after we hung up the day before with the intent of resigning as she was trying to get a teaching job at another district and so they may have a possible opening for what I just wanted to teach! She said that the principal would interview me next and then left me all alone in her office for about 10 minutes while she talke to him about me (I guess).
The principal came in, shook my hand and asked me a question that I was not prepared for...what is my philosophy in education? I rambled on at the beginning trying to figure it out myself, but I really felt that God was putting the words in my mouth because at the end of my "statement" the Principal up and offered me the job "unofficially" until the teachers's resignation was final!
And so came the longest 10 days of my life. After calling once to inquire about the status of my pending employment, just this July 31 came the call I was waiting for..."the teacher was not able to be employed by the other district, therefore she will be remaining with the school and that I am encouraged to pursue and consider other schools for employment as they do not have an opening at this time"
I was in shock and a bit angry at myself for not going ahead and calling around to set up interviews with other schools and so I spent Tues morning and early afternoon calling every school in the district to ask if there were any openings. I had 3 schools that were slightly interested and quickly dropped my resume off to a nearby school before they changed their mind!
I had to enroll the kids in school since they have been homeschooled the past few years, and so off I go to the main Admin building to enroll them. When I almost got there, I get a call...it was from the Principal at Sellers where I had an interview. He said that he did call earlier to leave me a message about the job and I said yeah, I was kinda bummed out, but it's ok. And then the next words that came out of his mouth was totally unexpected...Hours after he left me the sad news, another teacher resigned and after rearranging teacher assignments, he was offering me the same job for real this time and if I could drop by soon so we can talk!
And so I got the kids enrolled (another blog entry and prayer request), went to the school and we sat down to talk about the crazy things that had happened that day. We talked for a long time and Principal picked my brain about the Philippines & my family. I left the school with a few "official new teacher goodies" and a heart full of joy and awe and thankfulness to God for this amazing opportunity!
My God's timing may be Crazy, but it is always Perfect!
Oh yeah, Principal mentioned that there was New Teacher Training that started that day, but as it was already 4 pm, to start tomorrow and to call him on his cell if they won't let me in (heeheehee)
I am thankful that my niece Amber can babysit the 15 days of training over the next three weeks...oh and did I mention that I have to report a full week before the kids start school? Today is the first day of rest for my aching brain and oh yeah, I am taking a math teachers test TOMORROW!!!
Ate Adelfa was right, 2007 indeed is the year of Jubilee for the Cole Family!
Ang Galing Talaga Ni Lord!!!
