Praying for Roots: The West View Story

Miracle stories are my favorite. I especially love the ones that involve the actual, audible Voice of God like this one does....so stick with me to get to the good part. I have only shared this story before with a few close friends, but I have felt that pull and tug all week that someone, somewhere really needs to hear this story today. But to understand the Glory, you need a bit of...

THE BACKSTORY

When I moved to North Carolina in 2004 I started praying for roots. I had moved around every few years in my teaching career due to redistricting, relocating, and changes in funding. As a reading intervention teacher, that happened again in 2007 right before Evan was born when my position lost funding at Vance Elementary. I made the choice to transfer to Creech Road Elementary so that I could continue to work as an intervention teacher since I was about to have my first baby. Two years and one more baby later, I lost funding again and moved to Kingswood Elementary in Cary and ended up back in the regular classroom teaching 3rd grade for the first time. I had taught kindergarten and 1st grade but this was a new experience for me. 

Those two years at Kingswood were exceptionally tough.  I had two toddlers, I was driving 45 minutes to an hour (depending on traffic) each way to and from work, my husband was unemployed the entire two years that I worked there, and I missed my reading intervention job. I also was hospitalized for a period of time following several surgeries during both years and almost died. Twice. 

All of that led me to take a position as the preschool director at my church the following year. I adored that job and the people that I worked with. Unfortunately, that was not what God had planned and the preschool closed after only one year. During the closing transition, I was asked to stay on as the church´s children´s ministry director. I loved working for newhope church and certainly needed employment so I agreed to do this and also worked as our pastor´s administrative assistant so that my position could be full time, which my family needed very much. 

Throughout that summer it became very apparent that the proverbial ends were not meeting. We had no insurance, our mortgage had not been paid in several months, and we were simply waiting to see if our house would fall into foreclosure. The unpaid bills from my hospital stays from the last two years just kept piling up as well.

One day in July, my husband looked at me and said, ¨You´re going to have to go back to public school.¨

I didn´t know whether to be sad or angry or just plain worried. I didn´t want to be a teacher anymore. I had given away most of my teaching supplies. I believed that this was what God wanted me to do. And selfishly, I WANTED to be in vocational ministry. I loved working for my church.

But my husband was telling me to go back to public school. And the bible says that wives should submit to their husbands. As much as I detest the word submit, my heart had been working hard to do what was biblical and God was telling me to listen. So I did.

In the back of my mind I thought maybe I could still work part time at the church and part time for the public schools...but...

THE STORY

When God has a plan, it will not be hard to follow if you make the choice to listen. Evan was already registered for kindergarten at our neighborhood school so I knew where I was going to apply first. Even though I had been sending applications to this school every year since he was born with not so much as an email response, I knew that this would be the school where I would work one day. I knew this because God told me so. I just didn´t know when it would happen. There were NEVER posted openings at West View Elementary prior to a few years ago. And when I say never, I mean never. West View opened in 2006 and is definitely a preferred school in our area. It´s difficult to get a job there and I do not say that lightly.

I looked on the Johnston County Schools website that afternoon and there it was, one classroom teacher position opening. And do you know what grade it was? The one grade level I never in my life wanted to teach. Fifth grade, of course. But I submitted all of my online credentials, updated my resume, printed some out, and got myself ready to deliver one in person the next day.

Around lunchtime the following day I hopped in my car with a dress on, left work, and drove over to West View Elementary. I approached the secretary and asked if I could speak with the principal. She told me that she was in an interview but that I was welcome to wait if I would like. So I did.

As I waited I could hear the conversation going on from the principal´s office. They were happy, comfortable sounds. Not the sounds of an interview. There was much laughter. I was not convinced that it was an interview at all but if it was, it certainly sounded like it was going well.

After about fifteen minutes, the secretary asked if I´d like to leave my resume with her. ¨No ma´am,¨ I said, ¨That´s ok. I´ll wait.¨ And I continued to sit and listen. 

After another fifteen minutes or so, the secretary asked again, ¨Are you sure you don´t just want to leave your resume?¨

That is when I heard God speak. He said,¨Don´t move. You need to look her in the eye and shake her hand.¨

Yes, Lord. Then that´s what I´ll do.

¨No Ma´am,¨ I answered. ¨I´ll wait. I don´t mind. I´d like to introduce myself to Ms. Johnson. My son will be going to kindergarten this fall as well,¨ I improvised.

Finally, the young lady from the interview came out. I smiled at her as she passed by and the secretary took my resume back to the principal. I heard my first words ever from Ms. Lorrie Johnson float out from her office, ¨How do you say THAT last name?¨

I laughed to myself and thought that at least she wouldn´t forget me.

Lorrie came out and I stood up and shook her hand and introduced myself. She asked if I could come back the next day for an interview at 10:30. ¨Yes, ma´am, I will be back tomorrow. Thank you for the opportunity.¨

I walked out the front door with the hair on my arms standing up and the overwhelming feeling that the job was mine. I called my husband on the way home and told him that I knew I was going to be hired. 

Days later, after waiting for a very backed up HR to extend a job offer, I learned a very amazing thing from one of the teachers that had been in the interview. Prior to me walking in that day, the team had already made a decision on who they were going to hire. If I had not shown up, resume in hand, waiting in that office at that exact moment, I would never have had a chance. 

I clearly remember one question that the team asked me that day: After being in reading intervention and working in ministry, why do you want to teach 5th grade? My answer was: Because I want to work here. That was good enough for them. I think that was what sealed the deal. I knew that West View was God´s plan for my family and was so sure about it that I was willing to do whatever it took to make His plan happen. Even teaching 5th grade. 😏 They knew it was His plan, too.

In that interview, I also found out that Lauren could join us in the pre-K class at West VIew that year. And so began the planting of roots that I had been praying for since before my babies were born. God answers prayers in His time. He is so Good and His plans are exactly what we need. Beginning our sixth year together, there is an even more important reason that the three of us are still together at West View....I may not be able to update on that for a few months but I promise it will be worth the wait...so stay tuned!

Our first, first day all together - September 2012 and our last first day all together - August 2017