Saturday is Valentine's Day, normally a day that I just try to ignore, but this year I have a Valentine to spoil and I'm looking forward to that! Valentine's Day is a lot more fun if you have a Valentine to spend it with.
As I think that February 14 is just about upon us I'm shocked at how quickly 2009 is flying by. I have so many changes coming up in the next few months that it sometimes makes my head spin. I have a new and wonderful boyfriend and I have all my friends here in town as well as y'all that are spread across the country. So I know that I have a good support system to get through all these changes!
It appears that God may be opening doors for me to stay in school for a few more years. Yeah I know, I'm a bit tired of being a student at the moment and the thought of 4-5 more YEARS of this is a bit daunting, but if God opens a door it is a good idea to walk through it.
There is a chance that I can get hired on as a G.T.A (graduate teaching assistant). I'd be working with one the director of the counseling and family practice school here on campus. He is a great professor and would be good to work with. I'd be in charge of grading the work for his online classes and could even be called upon to teach some under grad sessions. I'd also be helping with any research/office work he has. This would allow me to have someone (the school) paying for my school fees as well as a small salary. I'd work on my Master of Arts in Licensed Practical Counseling (LPC) which would take about 2 years and then move into the phD program asap. I really want my phD eventually, and this seems like a possibility of getting it now. But, there are hoops that need to be negotiated and it is far from a done deal. It may work out and it may not, I'll know more in March.
If I don't get the G.T.A. position than I'm not sure what I want to do. I don't really want to stay in Lynchburg, so maybe I'll go back to looking for jobs in Raleigh with a non-profit organization. I want to do Crisis Intervention work and focus on military families, but I might have to find something else as well to pay the bills.
That covers the events of the past few weeks in my life. As I continue to study counseling and read on the subject and work on the issues in my past and current life journey I'm amazed at just how wonderful our God is. We tend to focus on His loving nature, and He is VERY loving, but He is more than just love. He is also just and in charge. Nothing that happens is a surprise to Him and nothing that happens is beyond His control and He has a plan for each of our lives, and He wants to clue us in.
God has a plan for each of us, and plan that is for our best. And He makes that plan clear, it isn't something that He hides from us, we just have to seek Him and have a relationship with Him. Lots of people ask "well, how will I know what the Lord wants me to do?" That is a good question. The answer is that you have a relationship with Him. By spending time daily reading the Bible and praying you get to know the Lord, like you do any person. By knowing the Lord you learn to see His guidance and see Him pointing you in a certain direction. It is all about a relationship, the perfect relationship.
So yes I do have a lot of changes that are looming on the horizon, and I'm excited about all the changes and the next step in my journey with Christ. I don't know yet where I'll be in June and what I'll be doing, but I know someone who knows and I trust that He will continue to lead me if I continue my relationship with Him. It is a two-way street and I'm excited to see what is over the hill.
May y'all have a blessed Valentine's Day be it with your spouse/SO or friends. And more importantly may y'all use this time to focus on God and all His attributes and how amazingly comforting that is as we face big and little changes in our lives.
In Christ,
Paige
