This has been at the top of my “Dream” list for a long time:
And this week I received this email:
I’m covering a sabbatical this fall and teaching the class that I’d choose to teach if I had my pick. It’s been so nice teaching students without having to say “Please stop talking” or “Put your shoes on”. It’s been a boost to share my teaching experiences with students who will student teach in the spring. They’re interested and engaged. . . and I’m reminded that I actually am a good teacher.
But this dream was on my list for years, without any sign that it would happen. So I waited. . . and left it on my list.
Then, out of the blue, I got an email one day asking if I was available to cover. That’s it, just opened my email and a dream came true. A bright light amidst other emails that did not fulfill happy dreams, only the scary ones. (And as a college professor, I don’t have to answer parent emails!)
Was waiting hard? Yes. Was I preparing myself for if it never happened? Yes. Did I think about it often? Yes.
And it was worth the wait.
Scripture is filled with accounts of people who waited (much longer than I did), but waited with hope and belief.
- Noah waited over a year for the waters to subside so he could leave the ark (Genesis 8).
- Joseph waited in jail for two years before he was released (Genesis 40-41).
- The Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years, waiting to enter The Promised Land (Numbers 32:13; Deuteronomy 2:7, 8:2).
- Women waited to be mothers: Sarah (Genesis 17:15-21, 21:1-7), Hannah (1 Samuel 1:1-19), and Elizabeth (Luke 1: 5-7, 25).
- Simeon waited to see the Christ (Luke 2: 25-35).
I’m sure they wondered, in their humanness, whether or not God remembered them and knew their dream. Sometimes God doesn’t fulfill our dreams and goals the way we want Him to, but rather in the way that is best for us. Or He answers them in the time that is best for us.
I wouldn’t have been ready to teach this class 10 years ago. It wouldn’t have benefitted the students as much as it will now (hopefully!). Teaching now has clarified some things about my career that I wouldn’t have realized even a few years ago. And God gave me what I needed: a semester-long commitment to try out this dream and see if it’s really best for me.
So, as we dream. . . and wait. . . here is a passage to keep in mind:
“Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land a befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in him way, over the man who carries out evil devices!” Psalm 37:3-7 ESV
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