Where God Guides, He Provides!

My days of unemployment are OVER!!! Praise Jesus!!! I've been in free fall for about a week, but I knew God would catch me!

I had an interview at a place called Apple Tree Children's Center one day, and it went well, but not quite phenomenal. I was given a quick tour of the place, and it seemed just a tad chaotic, smelling strongly of clorox trying valiently to cover up dirty diaper... and failing. I was told that they would be doing interviews all week before making a decision, and my first thought was: "Shoot, competition. I'm SOOOO not getting this job!" I came out of that interview and returned a phone call, and BAM! I had an interview the next day with [company name removed in the interest of not getting sued after reading scary official stuff about confidentiality in employee handbook]!

That interview went even better! It was a tad nerve wracking at first: it was a small office with a desk on either side and a chair in the middle. There was a manager at each desk and me in the chair, and both of them asked questions at the same time. That chair totally felt like a hot seat! All of this in addition to the fact that they asked me to bring a copy of my degree with me... you know, Associate's in Liberal arts? The one that has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with early childhood education? Yeah, that one. A friend told me that that's pretty standard when the degree has nothing to do with the job, which made me feel a little less foolish about it, but still underqualified. But the two were best friends, "work wives," they called it, and since the interview was all about me, I was invited and welcomed into the whole thing until it felt more like a conversation than an interview, and I was almost sad when it was over. They were thoroughly impressed, and they promised to call that afternoon for a second interview this morning.

I went in this morning, and this interview was more like a chance to see how I do with the children and see if I'd be better in the infant room or the toddler room. It was supposed to be a half hour in each room, but they were having a crazy day with tours and a surprise visit from a Higher Up from Chicago, so I was only in the infant room for about fifteen adorable but slightly awkward minutes (the teachers in there were pretty obsorbed in taking care of the dozen babies all over the room), then I ended up being with the toddlers for over an hour. That was the most fun I've had in a long time! I got to know the names of about half of the class and I helped coral toddlers from here to there. I was on the floor with them, replacing shoes ("Everybody needs TWO SHOES!" I said about ten times, tapping the little ones' toes), reading to them, talking about pictures, clapping with them when they fit the blocks together right, and trying to keep them relatively contained as they waited to go outside while one of the teachers counted them.

Then we went outside. There was one little girl who was brand new to the school, and she was used to that time of day being nap time, not play time. So I got to hold this adorable little girl in a pretty yellow dress as she snoozed in my arms. In the interests of the upcoming afternoon naptime, one of the teachers finally came and woke her up to try to get her to play for a little bit. Shortly after that, I had another little girl snuggling with me in my arms. It was later explained to me that she's in a not-so-good home situation. When one of the managers finally came out to get me, she was shocked to find this little girl locked onto my hip, refusing to let go!

I was offered a job on the spot, and I automatically said yes! So allow me to introduce myself: My name is Kaycee, I'm a toddler teacher at [a top secret company that I apparently cannot name in a blog for fear of financial ruin], and I haven't started work yet, but I'm already in love with my class! To celebrate, I went and put some gas in my car and went to Starbucks for a Strawberry Smoothie, because there are actually some paychecks on the horizon!

Settling In and Making Observations

I filled out a job application today right before I went into an interview. It asked for my current address and my previous address, then for any other addresses that I have lived in the past five years. I was very happy that I officially have my new address memorized! Then it asked how long I've lived there. "4 days," I answered. I put in the address for my parents' house in Nebraska. It asked how long I lived there. "15 years," I answered. The recruiter looked over my application and she said, "So, what brings you to Coralville? It looks like you've been in Nebraska for most of your life!"

Let me tell you about our apartment! It's all hard-wood floor--buckling in places and not totally flat. Except for the bathroom, which has actually a pretty nice linoleum floor, and the corner of the kitchen behind the trash can and stove, where there is about a square foot of space that is peeling black and white checkered linoleum. There are archway type things from the kitchen to the dining room and then from the dining room to the living room. These archways are not straight. The doors aren't quite aligned correctly, all but one of them has some kind of fascinating, quirky problem. And my favorite window in the apartment is the one at the end of the living room... that sits at almost a 45 degree angle. I love the place! It's got character and personality and attitude! (Daddy calls it a dump... He missed the potential!)

But moving in has been going smoothly. The little apartment is starting to feel a little bit more like home, after learning its various quirks and how to deal with them, and some much needed deep cleaning. My rubber gloves and I have become very close friends! My roommate and I are slowly putting everything in its place and finding places for everything, adding our own colors and personal touches to the place, and it's looking pretty good, all things considered! Still waiting on Internet, so I may be blogging and facebooking from Starbucks for a while.

Driving around here is fascinating. There is no shame in tail gating or cutting people off, but I've been warned that cops around here will write tickets for going 1 mph over the speed limit. And parking? Holy cow! I'm hoping that with time I'll learn where I can park, where I can't, and perhaps I'll find a few places where it's free. And you have to check the meters before you start feeding them... Some of them have a 1 hour limit, and if you give it more than that without realizing the limit, it eats your money and won't give it back, but will still expire in one hour. And driving through campus is a nightmare! And seriously, anybody who complains about motorcyclists has never experienced moped drivers in Iowa City. One of them almost took off my driver's side mirror this morning!

On the job front, I had an interview this morning (as mentioned above) that went pretty well, and another tomorrow. I'm desperately hoping to be working by the end of next week, I don't like this unemployment business! I'd rather know when my next paycheck is coming, and while the time off of work has been kinda fun, it isn't quite worth the uncertainty. But where God leads, He provides, so I'm trying to not worry too horribly much about it. Trying. Really hard. *whimper*

I've got a few places to go meet people, I have several names and faces now, so perhaps this "new friend" gig will start progressing soon, too! Church was hard on Sunday, simply because it wasn't MY church. It wasn't home. I missed MY church family. But I really think that the church I visited has the potential to be my new church family

One step at a time, things are moving forward and looking up. Every day feels like a step in the right direction!

Changes

So the plan was to go to the University of Iowa, get an English degree from the most amazing schools for English majors in the country, meet my future husband, and live happily ever after. It was a great plan.

The best way to make God laugh is to tell him your plans.

Turns out, there is no reciprocity between Iowa and Nebraska as far as tuition goes, and no mercy for the little college girl with big dreams that her parents can't afford. I was $17,600 short for the year and couldn't get a loan--yes, I was willing to go into that kind of debt for this kind of school! I came to this realization last Friday morning, and as if to confirm the impossibility of life at that moment, my car, my Ford Tauris named Arwen who has served me so faithfully for four and a half years, clicked and grinded and breathed her last that afternoon. And thus, for the first time since Kindergarden, I shall be taking a year off of school. I am devistated. I know, I'm wierd. But I'm okay with that.

But I'll be doing something else for the first time since Kindergarden: moving. With or without school, I'm still moving to Iowa, where I shall be living in an apartment for the first time in my life, out on my own for the first time in my life, and working full time for the first time in my life (eww!). However, without classes, I'll have the time to read and write on a scale that I have never been able to achieve before. (I'm working really hard to focus on the bright side right now!) And hey, after finding a new church (since I'm leaving my old one behind in Nebraska... *sob* does a church fit in the trunk of a Cavelier?), the Future Husband plan isn't totally out of the question, right?

I'm stepping into a whole new world... and no, not just because it's Iowa, but that is a pretty large factor. And I have NO CLUE what I'm doing. It's new and it's scary and it's not what I wanted, but you know what? God know's what He's doing. Even though it sure as heck doesn't look like it now. Sometimes I swear he suddenly got really busy and forgot that he was supposed to get me through college, but I know that that's not the kind of God I serve. He has plans to prosper me and not to harm me, plans to give me hope and a future. Christ came that I may have life, and have it to the fullest. And while that's tough to believe as I face full time employment and no school (since when is 40 hours a week to pay the bills "life to the fullest"?), it's something God promised me. Looking back at where I've been, it's the times that I leaned on nothing but belief in Him that I was best off. Every time I tried to trust something else, it only got me in trouble.

So God, I sure hope You know what You're doing! I trust You. Move in a way that I've never seen before!