I'm a Teacher Now

Yep. Well, technically, I'm an after-school tutor. But I've officially graduated from my obligatory stint in a fast-food restaurant and am now working for a nonprofit organization.
I just finished my first week, and I love my kids already. I inherited a class of 12 middle schoolers from a church friend. Yes, they're a handful. But it's a wonderful handful, and watching them learn is worth it. I hope especially that I'll be able to instill a love of reading in them. I tried reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe out loud to them, but I made the mistake of taking them outside to do it, and I distracted them. I still have a lot to learn.
My new job has changed the way my days work. I now wake up earlier, get my school done by 12:30 (bear in mind that I'm still a full-time college student), scarf down some lunch, and work from 1:30 to 6:00, Monday through Thursdays. This means that I'll probably be blogging on Fridays instead of Thursdays (with the exceptions of school holidays--I get three weeks off for Christmas). But, God willing, I'll still be posting my short stories every Monday.

The good news that I had gotten my new job came the day after Thanksgiving. This was the second time we'd been blessed the day after Thanksgiving. Last year, my dad had a heart attack while digging fence post holes and was in the hospital on Thanksgiving Day. He was released that Friday. He's since been working out and eating right, and he's probably in better shape than I am.
I know that everyone's in a hurry to transition into Christmas--myself included--but I wanted to take just a moment to talk a bit more about Thanksgiving. These past two years, I woke up on Thanksgiving morning not knowing what to be thankful for. Last year, my dad was in the hospital. This year, I found myself wondering if I was going to get a better job or not. I knew the interview had gone well, just like I'd known last year that Dad was going to be okay. But I still didn't know for sure.
I was thankful anyway.
I thanked God that Dad was okay, and he came home the next day. I thanked God for the job I had, and I got a better one the next day.
Sometimes, we have to be thankful for and content with what we have before we get something better. Just like I had to learn to take care of a gerbil before I got a dog. Otherwise, we'll just set our sights on the next best thing and set ourselves on a spiral of discontentment.
What are you thankful for this holiday season? Or do you have any suggestions for a new teacher? Let me know in the comments below! God bless you, dear readers, and don't forget to Like us on Facebook!