After 27 years.....

After teaching 27 years I was never tired of teaching, never drowning in paperwork, never sick of the day-to-day of teaching, never timed of my students, never just ready to quit, give it up, or stop what I was doing. I loved teaching. I loved my daily grind so to speak. I just was never ready to quit teaching But then I suffered my mini-stroke and use forced to 'rethink' my life's work. God had another plan for me.

After five years, I never knew God's plan and I really still don't. But I think I might be getting an idea. I still love the idea of teaching students, still have the dream of helping young people see what their own future has in store for them. I still have that burning desire to help "pay it forward", doing what someone else did for me all those years ago.

Even a mini-stroke can't slow me down. I have put in the years of retirement crafting my skills, creating lots, and lots of lesson ideas for someone else to use, I have worked almost daily on my webpage for other teachers to use to give them ideas for our subject matter - history, I have watched hours and hours of history-style shows crafting ideas that could make a teacher's life better.

In other words, I never stopped teaching. Oh, there have been UP days and DOWN days but all were helping me get better at my own 'craft' and I still have the feeling that God is/was preparing me for something better.

I still don't really know what he has in store for me but I think I MAY know what is next for me...the Simon Youth Foundation (Academy). It is designed to help students who struggle to connect with material to finish high school and get on to college/university somewhere. The program was created by Simon Malls in 12 states and I have one right here in our own area.

Our own SYF serves only 30 students each working towards their own goals and need older adult mentors to help them succeed. My own grandson went there and now he is an upstanding, strong, and proud U.S. Marine. And maybe this is my own calling, to pay it forward, to help those in need of help in their time of need.

God, if this is your calling, please help me answer your call, give me strength to answer your call, give me strength to 'get up and go' towards your call, give me strength to go forward in this endeavor.

I just checked my old blogs and it has been 4 years since my mini-stroke, four years of boredom.