I couldn't even speak (for those who know me, that's not very often). I just stood there and took out my camera and took a pic as evidence that I was indeed not dreaming, and thought "Welcome Back." Then, since I was in the room with 4 other men, I got myself together enough to ask, "When will this be complete?". A guy answered, in a chuckle, "I don't know. I know that we will lay the concrete down today though." "Welcome Back" I thought. Each time I thought those two words it got more and more sarcastic. So, I left because I couldn't bare to be in the room a second longer, and with my best teacher/controlling logic, I thought "Okay, this is crazy, but it will be okay. I'll just give it a day, and then I'm sure it will be ready to go by Friday. All they have to do is let the concrete dry and lay the tile. That should be plenty of time." So, I left and gave it some time to get itself together.
Friday came and I eagerly arrived at the school to see if my predictions were indeed correct. As I walked down the hall, I could see our custodian outside of my room. I walked up to him and said, "Tell me that I'm not going to scream when I walk in here." He smiled and said, "Weeeeelllll....." That's when I turned the corner to my room and below is what I saw. You see, I knew that they dug a hole in my classroom floor, but I didn't really think about how. The only way to get through a concrete foundation is to (you guessed it) jack hammer! So, not only did I still have an unfinished floor, but I also had dust on every single item of my entire classroom, whether it was covered or not. Not what I wanted to see.
Again, I tried not to panic. "Keep it together Kim," I told myself. Then, I went to talked to my principal to get a timeline of exactly when this would all be complete. The short of it was, Wednesday. That would be 5 days before the first day of school. I calmly told my principal that I understood, walked out of the building into my car and then my friends I began to PANIC!!! You see, this not only is a new school year for me, it's a new school, a new subject and a new age (I'm going from kindergarten to high school). I was trying to finish early so that I wouldn't have to panic! I still didn't even know what I was going to be teaching, or what I was going to do on the first week of school, yet alone the first day. And now, with only 5 days, I'd have to pull it all together. Oh yeah, I really panicked, then stressed, then told the story over and over to my poor unsuspecting husband. (bless his heart) You wanna know the one thing that I didn't do? PRAY. Never once did I even think to ask God, for his help, guidance or understanding. I was so wrapped up in my situation and the things I couldn't control, that I forgot to pursue the one being that has ALL control.
Eventually, I came to myself and realized that I needed a higher power on this one. So, I went to my thinking spot, the shower, and I didn't ask God to save me or help me or fix the problem. Instead I prayed a prayer of thanks. I thanked my Father for giving me a job in the first place. A job that I had been praying about for several years. A job that allowed me to help others and lead me toward the reason why he made me a teacher. I even thanked him for my circumstance. One because it could have been much worse and two because it gave me a chance to show what He can do even when I can't.
So you're probably wondering how it all ended. Well, after tiling and waxing the floor, I didn't actually get to put my room back together until Friday. That made 2 days before the first day of school. Ordinarily, I would have truly lost it, but God helped me realize that I couldn't control the situation, so I had the choice to either fuss or trust. Trust that if I asked Him to handle the situation, he would. I didn't need to do anything else but wait on Him. So, I did. Wanna know something crazy? It actually has turned out to be a blessing! I got re-organized, created new computer documents, made copies, rethought my approach of how things would be arranged, and made a lot of new friends to stopped by to tell me that they felt sorry for me. Plus, my room got new paint, fixed windows, new tile, and freshly mopped and waxed floors. I practically got a brand new classroom! Check it out!
So, if you are reading this today and you can relate to an uncontrollable situation (tough job situation, out of control student, health concern) in your own life, I have a challenge for you. I dare you. I double-dog dare you to TRUST NOT FUSS and thank Him and allow Him to work whatever your challenge is out. Then, after you do that, like Elsa from Frozen, I dare you to "Let it Go" and see what God will do in your life. He can take your situation and make it better than it ever would have it you had tried to do it on your own. Not only that, He will give you a story to tell about His goodness. I'm not promising you that it will be easy, but I do promise that it will be rewarding. Matthew 6:27 puts it best:
"Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?"
No matter what the outcome, you are better off by not allowing yourself to stress over because it won't add any value to yourself or the people around you. So there's your challenge. I'd love to hear your war stories, but especially your victories through Christ. To all my teacher friends, good luck to you in this new school year. Remember that your class may outnumber you in size, but one person with FAITH is the majority! God bless each of your precious babies both big and small and bless you to be everything that they will need this school year!
As always, be blessed and be a blessing,
Kim
