The Lord's Timing is Perfect

So it has been a long wait, but the God has opened doors and I am excited for the next steps in my journey.

First of all, I'm DONE with my first year of MTR, which also means I now have my MASTERS degree!! It has been a busy year filled with a lot of hard work and a lot of learning. I have grown SO much over this past year in so many areas. I am blessed beyond measure to be a part of this program.

The day before I graduated, I was offered a teaching job for next year! I will be teaching 4th grade in an area of Memphis called Orange Mound. It is the historically all African-American neighborhood/part of town where deep pride resides. It is, also, one of the roughest parts of Memphis. However, I could not be more excited that the Lord has placed me there! Four other MTR graduates from my class were also hired there, and we have a graduate from last year's MTR class who has been teaching there for a year already. Two of the new class residents have been placed there for their internships this new year too. So I will have a strong community of support! This will be the pilot school, also, for a new"ish" vision of MTR's - to take over the professional development within a school to teach the WHOLE staff our effective teaching strategies. Eight of us in a school can/will be able to only do so much. But if the whole staff buys into and puts into practice what we have learned/are held accountable to, then we will begin to see change to a much greater degree. God is up to big things!

Summer job! God never ceases to amaze me. He opened the door for me to work for a local church (not the church I attend) who is preparing to launch an adoption/foster care initiative with the Church (big C) leading the way. We want this to be a city-wide initiative where the Church takes ownership and responsibility of the "orphans" of our city. God has commanded us countless times in Scripture to "take care of the orphans." The Church has not been living up to her calling in this area. Therefore, we are trying to remedy that here in Memphis. God, so graciously, has allowed me to get hired for the summer to help lay the groundwork for what is going to be launched in the fall. I know, though, that this will be an area that I am involved with beyond just these two summer months! I'm excited to see all that God is going to do through this initiative!

Housing... I have gone back and forth over the past 4 months on whether I want to buy a house again or rent. There are pros and cons of both. However, it seems that the Lord has opened the door for me to buy a house! I'm still in the initial stages of the process, but hope to close on it in July!

I thought life would slow down once summer got here, but it doesn't seem to be the case! The new group of residents have arrived, so we have new "babies" around. It's a bit of new world for all of us. However, I am grateful to have been in Memphis for a year now. I'm glad I feel "at home" in this city. I don't miss the days of everything feeling so new!