Daddy's girl...

I began a full time job this week. It was definitely a meandering path that brought me here. Lots of twists, turns, disappointments, prayers, tears … I know I SHOULD trust the Lord’s timing … I do believe that His timing is best … just hard to grab hold of that some days.

The journey for this job began about a year and a half ago. I had just left a secretary position at my church and decided to re enter the education field. I realized January was probably not the best month to do that so I had prepared myself not to really get a job until the next school year. I continued a little eBay business I had started but the further I got into applying for a teaching job, the less time I had to devote to that. Finances were a real problem, adding a large amount of stress to the situation.

About April, I began applying in earnest, widening the range of my search considerably, both in physical distance and in the type of job. I am a school library media specialist by degree. I applied for those jobs, teaching positions, library aides, reading positions, well, pretty much anything that paid something. I was willing to travel long distances. I had LOTS of interviews. I received some beautiful rejection letters … but no job offers. I struggled on … finances still in awful shape … sold LOTS of “stuff” … survived Christmas … New Year looked really bleak … thinking McDonald’s jobs looked pretty good about now …

January brought a new challenge … my dad, who had been living with us for five years, was diagnosed with lung cancer and began daily radiation treatments. Now the picture was a little more clear … my little family was the only family Dad had nearby … I took him to those treatments and often thought, “What would I do if I had a job?”  I was thankful to be able to help him during this difficult time in his life ...

I also began meeting with a group in our community about the prospect of forming a new Christian school … and something started tinkling in the back of my mind. The school finally had a Board of Directors and they initiated a search for an administrator/principal. I started praying about this … and asking the Lord for a “sign” ~ I know, a little baby in my faith but I was pretty shattered from the financial strain of no job along with the reality that Dad’s life was probably not going to last much longer. I also held tightly to the verse, "He remembers we are just dust," so I asked the Lord for one of the Board members to mention to me the possibility of the job … didn’t happen right away … but about a month later TWO of the Board members asked me during a meeting would I consider applying … wow, would I ever …

The rest is history. I went through the application process and was hired. The picture became really clear at that time … my timetable was just not my Father’s and His was best, of course. The meandering path finally led to Legacy Christian Academy and now I am trying to trust the Lord with His timing and plans for this school of His…

My dad went to live with Jesus on April 21st of this year. I had started working part time with LCA in March. About a week before Dad died, I was going to work and his wonderful sitter had come to stay with him. Dad was in his recliner and we knew the end was close; he could hardly talk. As I was going out the door, I went over to tell him bye, let him I know I was working and Jimmy would be with him. Dad nodded and managed to say, “You on pay woll?” much like my two year old grandson would have spoken. I replied, “Yes, Sir,” and he grinned and nodded his head.

Through my tears, I know this gave Dad some of the peace he needed to let go … he had tried to take care of me my whole life and he had been so burdened that I could not find a job … now the Lord’s plan allowed him to know I would be okay … not the same without him, but okay…

You know, I was so blessed to have a daddy that did everything he could to care for me and I AM so blessed to have a Daddy-Father that does everything He can to care for me … even when from my perspective, the road was winding, full of pitfalls and so rough to travel, He knew the path was straight, narrow and exactly where I needed to go. Yep, I’m a Daddy’s girl …

 My dad and me one Christmas while in France ...
definitely a Daddy's girl