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I remember it well. The day I got promoted. Promoted to what? Promoted to be myself, to be who I already was. Oh, what a glorious day that was. I still think back on it so full of thankfulness. At the time though it was a tumultuous ordeal. Even embarrassing.
It was our 1st year of marriage and the only jobs we could find were in the local school system. They were good jobs and they pretty much paid the bills. I mean good as in, we liked them, not as in we were making good money. We made a bit over minimum wage, but I got benefits- a first for me.
I was a Teacher’s Aide in the 3rd grade, and my husband was a substitute teacher. I actually had a 2-year degree- an Associates in Science and was only a few credits shy of a 4 year Bachelor’s Degree. But wasn’t in a hurry to go back to college and finish up. We had gotten married and left college behind. We still didn’t know what we wanted to be when we grew up. So we gave up trying to put ourselves in labeled boxes since it was getting so expensive. But now here we were. Me, an overqualified Teacher’s Aide, and my husband … well, he liked his job. But sometimes the students could be cruel, though most liked him.
During Christmas break, we found out that we were expecting our first son. At first, I was scared and fearful, what would I say to everyone? We felt like we looked like irresponsible kids- getting pregnant 3 months after we were married instead of waiting the prescribed 2 years to get established. I almost cried as I admitted I was indeed pregnant to everyone in the break room at work. If I could go back in time I think I’d slap myself for acting the way I did. God told me the baby’s name immediately after finding out. And confirmed it to me several times.
At first, the group of teachers I worked with seemed to really like me, but something seemed to change partway through the year. A friend that had worked the same job before me warned me of them though I brushed her off. And then there was a survey/ report that the teachers had to fill out on my job performance. All of the teachers except one that was more of a nonconformist wrote critical remarks on my performance. It bothered me because the things they wrote were critical in areas that were strange. But the areas where they really could have mentioned my weakness, they said nothing about. And I remembered that they all agreed except for the one. My friend had turned out to be right. I became frustrated and angry, I started to hate the job I had initially loved.
A still small voice told me to “Bless my enemies”, and warned me not to fall into that trap of unforgiveness. So for weeks, I went around blessing them constantly under my breath. Every time I remembered anything that caused the feelings of pain and rejection I would bless that person with all sorts of kind things. I blessed, their children, their families, their finances, everything I could think of. Then it happened…
I got promoted. Well, first I got called down to the Principals office. I was super fearful. But as I walked down the hall toward my meeting with the principal a scripture came to mind. I realized I was in a spiritual battle, and this is what I said,
Isaiah 54:17 ” 17 No weapon that is formed against [me] shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against [me] in judgment [I] shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, says the Lord.”
Then another scripture came to mind:
Romans 8:28 “28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
Suddenly I had peace, and I wasn’t afraid anymore. Whatever happened, would be God’s will for me. It was well with my soul.
As I met with the Principal I could sense that she knew something I wasn’t telling her. She almost seemed to apologize without doing it. She explained that my position wouldn’t be available next year because they never got the funding for it until the next fall. So they could never guarantee it would exist from year to year. And that was true, they had warned me of that when I first took the job. She lavished me with praise for a job well done. And I left that office glowing. For we had been praying and praying about whether I would go back to work after our baby was born. And I felt God had given us an answer to that question.
That was the day that I got promoted to…housewife, homemaker, mother, keeper of the home. What a relief to not have to deal with …all the stuff, the drama- anymore on a day to day basis. I was tempted many times to go back to working a job to help pay the bills, for it seemed impossible to make ends meet with only one income. But God came through, He always does.
