CH 1. God's Plan is NOT My Plan

HIS PLAN IS BETTER!!
Now it took me a LOOOONG time to realize this fact... and sometimes I have to remind myself of this when things don't go my way.  Here is how I got to where I am... 

I knew I wanted to be teacher all my life.  Who knows how many kids I tortured in the summer playing "school," and when I went to Jr. High I knew I wanted to be a  High School ART teacher. I had a gift... always had... for art.  I had sold my work, gotten scholarships, and even attended the California College of Arts and Crafts going into my senior year. When I graduated, I went to Stephen F Austin State University- a small university in East Texas...buried in pine trees. The whole time I was in school, I worked retail.  I graduated summa cum laude with two majors: All- Level Art Education and Fashion Merchandising.  

Then the search began... trying to find an art teaching job.  It was like finding a needle in a haystack except there wasn't even A needle in the haystack!!!  I still lived in my small town, since my then boyfriend (now husband) worked for the university, and there were NO art teaching positions within the 50 mile radius. =(

So I continued to work retail, becoming a manager at the local GAP, but after spending a year and half doing retail after graduating in 2004, I decided I needed to do something else.... I needed to TEACH.  I may not have been able to teach art, but maybe I could incorporate it into a content area.  In Texas you have to pass 2 tests to be a teacher-- your content area and the PPR (classroom management).  My PPR test was All-Level, so I could take any content test and as long as I passed, then I could be considered "qualified" to teach that content. 

So I did the next best thing... I studied and took the EC-4 Generalist Test, which I passed (whew).  So now I had to sell myself to principals without any education in elementary ed.  I had a passion for teaching but knew nothing when it came to elementary. All I knew was that I wanted to incorporate art into the curriculum.  I  had no credentials... nothing... just ART... which is not in elementary schools around here.  Now I had to rely on my retail experience... and sell myself to principals and schools trying to convince them to hire me.  

Things were definitely NOT going according to my plan.  But this all part of God's Plan for me.