Just another benefit of my measly paycheck...

I LOVE my job. It may not always seem like it considering some of my posts, but I really do. I always wanted to be a teacher, since I was very young. And while I know that I could've done it had I motivated myself to do so, for now anyway, I'm "just an aide". When I started this job last year, I had plans of eventually finishing college, getting my degree, and getting a "real" teaching job. But these days, more and more, I feel like I'm exactly where God wants me to be.

I am a special education inclusion aide. Inclusion kids are the ones who need a little extra help, but can still function, for the most part, in a regular education classroom. As an aide I fill in the gaps when the regular inclusion teacher can't be there. I am an extra person in the classroom while the main teacher teaches. And it doesn't really matter if I know the subject matter or not. In fact, last year I was learning (or re-learning) right along with the kids.

I travel from classroom to classroom all over the school, but mostly I work with 6th graders. However, if there is a need for a warm body somewhere else in the school, I'm one of the first ones they call to fill in there too...like doing the breaks for the person who works in ISS (in school suspension) or working in ISS all day like today. So I never really know for sure what I'm going to be doing or where I'm going to be doing it. And in a way, that's very cool. It's kind of like the job of being a child of God. I never know where the boss or the Big Boss will send me.

God has taught me more than I can even tell you since I've worked here. I've learned that I can make plans, but that doesn't mean my plans will actually come to fruition. I've learned about humility because I'm not the lead teacher and therefore don't get to make decisions about how a child is taught. I've learned that God can often use me in ways I never would have thought about. I've learned to focus on God and have peace even in some scary situations. "Ok, you'll be with the boy with the ankle bracelet today (police monitoring device) and don't touch him because he might haul off and hit you. Oh, and don't call him sweetie or dear or anything like that because that makes him angry too" (that's what I heard my very first day on the job). I've learned that when I worry that I'm not going to be able to do enough to help someone, it's not about what I can do. I've learned that it's about what God can do.

In the last 2 years I have been blessed beyond measure. By the grace of God, I have been able to show respect in the face of disrespect allowing me to calm down angry children. The Holy Spirit has led me to pray with and encourage teachers who are frustrated and overwhelmed. The love God has for me has inspired me to love and pray for children who can be the hardest to love. The joy that God has put into my heart has spilled out helping others to smile and feel better and earning me the nickname "Joy Fairy" by one of my students. I've experienced all of this and so much more as a result of where God has placed me.

My job doesn't pay much. It won't even cover my house payment. Thankfully, God has given my husband an income that will cover most of our bills. But it's like I say when the teachers talk about the mounds of papers to grade, paperwork required to be done by the school, and parent meetings...each of the things listed in the paragraph above are..."just another benefit of my measly paycheck".