For as long as I can remember, I’ve measured years in school years. August to May and then the summer. Probably because I’ve gone from student to teacher to mom with kids in school back to teacher.
Last year was rough. For a number of reasons that I won’t go into but I was anxious all the time and was not my best self at all. I knew deep in my soul that something needed to change. So, I resigned from a job that I really did love. I loved working with middle school students. Loved joking with them, laughing with them, learning from them, and teaching them something along the way. As always, I think I learned more from them than they did from me.
I learned to slow down and have patience. I learned that sometimes lunch detention (although both parties hate it) is the key to understanding someone better. I stand by all the things I said this time last year- junior highers are amazing people and have a lot to offer the world if we would just have a little patience, time, and understanding.
Walking away from that job and from people I LOVED working with was no easy thing but it was what I knew was right for me.
With the start of the summer, the anxiety has slowly calmed and I am finding myself again. (I know that sounds incredibly cliche but it’s the best phrase I can come up with at the moment.) I am hoping to figure out what I love doing and do more of it. For now, I know that I really love hanging out with my family and laughing a lot.
This summer, vacation took us to Albania. (Which, if you have a chance to go there, do it. Beautiful country and such friendly people!) Our last “stop” there was Himare, a smaller beach town. We stayed at a small, 7 unit, family run apartment. Over the course of our days there we were able to chat with the son that runs it with his parents. Petro was kind and generous and a very genuine person. Many people, including Petro, asked how we ended up in Albania and the story always went back to Reagan’s experience last summer on the mission trip she was a part of.
This got us talking about church and he let us know about some missionaries in Greece that he knew well. We looked them up and although they are not supported by our church, they are supported by another local church in Phoenix. It was during this conversation that he gave my family the best compliment that we could have ever gotten. Petro looked at Adam and I and told us, you can just tell with your family, you are all so peaceful. Then he followed up by saying, it is because of your salvation in Christ.
This, after all year of feeling less than peaceful was more than a blessing. He had no idea how much I needed to hear that. I had no idea how much I needed to hear that. To have a relative stranger see peace in you and your family during a time when the world is more than upside down, is a testament to Jesus and the peace that only he gives.
Gosh friends, all I can say is that if you do not feel peaceful, give Jesus a chance. Come to church with me. Find a local church. Start praying. I am telling you that this peace is greater than any job, spouse, politician, or thing could give you.
So…now to find what’s next for me. I have no clue but God does and I’m going to lean in close while I try to figure it out. And I’ll probably bake some things along the way too. Stay tuned but know this, I’m not anxious and I’m not worried because I trust in the one who is greater than anything this earth has to offer.
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