I suppose that as a teacher, I should say my passion is teaching.
Look! It's my official teacher picture from 2014-15!
Thank you, Thailand, for bleaching my face and arm to an even more unnatural shade of white. Not.
I suppose I could also say my passion is teenagers. Or working out. Or baking. Or making color coded lists. And although I immensely, enjoy teenagers, working out, baking, and color coded lists, none of them is my true passion.
I thought long and hard about how to best answer this question. But after much thought and introspection, I came to realize that my calling in life is not my passion. And, really, I'm okay with that. God has placed on me the call to be a secondary English teacher and I feel honored to answer that call. I love working with teenagers, helping guide them through life, and teaching them how to effectively use language for a variety of purposes. However--
My passion in life is equipping others.
I was sitting in chapel earlier this week when I finally figured out how to properly verbalize my passion. I am passionate about building people up, edifying today's youth, and preparing them to succeed in the world outside of my classroom.
I have made known to multiple school administration, both in Thailand and the States, that I teach students first and English Language Arts second.
My calling is teenagers. My gateway is the secondary English classroom. But my passion is equipping.
Right now I cannot imagine myself in a place other than the high school English classroom, but I still day dream and wonder. Maybe someday I will be teaching adults who didn't make it through the traditional American classroom the first time around. Maybe I will be teaching New Americans some place in the States. Maybe I will be running my own school on the plains of Africa. Maybe I will be living in the mountains of South America and teaching kids to read there. Maybe I will be a college professor preparing university students to go out and equip students of their own. Regardless, my passion is definitely to equip others. It is part of my greater purpose to change the world for the glory of God which, right now, is by teaching teenagers the subjects of English language, literature, and composition at an international high school in Bangkok, Thailand.
Near the end of my time as an undergraduate student, a campus ministry leader asked me where I wanted to be in ten years. I answered "Within the will of God. The specifics won't really matter. I cannot imagine anything greater."
I can say confidently that right now I am within the will of God and it is a sweet place to be. I am working and pushing myself to be the best equipper I can be. People have graciously invested so much in me and I desire to pass those skills, traits, and understandings on to others.
A weekend as a chaperone for a youth group canoe trip on which
I realized my desire to work with teenagers in a school setting...
The first step to realizing my passion in life. Soli deo gloria.
Hi there! Following along with you through the #blogtemberchallenge. Your blog caught my eye because I also am living overseas and was excited to see someone similar along for the challenge. I so appreciate that you went beyond just your faith or Jesus and shared something that He has uniquely given you a passion for and equipped you to do!
i LOVE how you expressed this. I agree, I am passionate about equipping people and building them up!
I love how you worded this. Such a lovely post x
I love your "equipping others" passion that's such a great trait to have :)
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