Up the Sunbeam

-- A little more than ten short months ago, I set out toward a cherished dream  to become a teacher, and today I reached the first major milestone on that road. I clicked the SUBMIT button to turn in my final assignment in the final class of my freshman year of college.  I love looking at the row of binders that hold all my textbooks from this year--each one represents a five-week chunk of my life that I spent on the way to achieving my big dream. Stacked up together, they feel solid, substantial, sacred. Not sacred because of their content (although every bit of truth they hold belongs to God), but sacred because this work is all an offering of love, given for God's glory. He is the reason I stay up late to finish papers. He is the reason I fuss over details. And He is the reason I step up to lead team projects with a commitment to excellence instead of letting someone else do it (or not do it) and just get by with minimum effort. Last year, just before I starte...

The burning kink in my neck increased in exponential increments with every tick of the clock as the pleasant, feminine tones of the instructor's voice competed with the loud, steady, humming drone of the air conditioner. Seated in sideways configuration, I had to turn my head sharply to my left to see the teacher and her power point at the front of the room--it was a long (but productive) three hours. My first class of my return to my education was an orientation to college life and an introduction to many requirements, programs and resources I will need to be a successful college student. I listened carefully, trying to be a sponge to soak up all the information and taking notes where necessary. I've been out of this game for a VERY LONG TIME and I didn't want to miss a thing! Later that evening, in an offhand conversation with someone I'd just met, I encountered another voice, one that, with the best of intentions, told me the profession I am pursuing is too com...

A single step off the path is enough to change your destination. At 17, I was on a path in pursuit of a Bachelor o f Arts degree at a Bible college in Hawaii. Three weeks before I was to leave my home in British Columbia, Canada to fly to Honolulu, I got word that this school I was to attend was opening a sister institution in San Jose, California. Everyone I had met the previous spring, including the president of the college was going to be in San Jose. What to do? Hawaii?? San Jose?? Another Bible college?? I wanted my parents to tell me what to do. They would not. They wanted me to make my own decision. I was not even 18 yet, and not accustomed to making such big decisions myself, but they had faith that God could and would guide me in making the choice. I asked God for wisdom and guidance, and prayed like never before. Against all the odds, maybe even against reason and common sense, but very much in faith, I decided to go to San Jose. I loved ...