My dad told me the hardest part about writing a blog is starting. So I finally decided I should just take the plunge and start. I would assume that most people who are looking at this site already know that I was called to be teaching in Japan. However writing this blog, I figured it would be best to start it at the very beginning...May 17th, two days before graduation.
On the Thursday before graduation, everyone graduating as a teacher was required to attend an all day seminar basically introducing us to the real world. So my roommates and I grudgingly got up earlier than usual to attend this seminar. We get there, grab some juice and coffee, and all crowd around a table waiting to begin. The seminar started with a devotion and then we talked about transferring from being a student to a teacher. Shortly after this section finished and the next began, Dr. Melendy (my college supervisor) walks over to our table and taps me on the shoulder and asks me to get my things and come with her. Now I should note, apparently every MLC student knows that when you get tapped on the shoulder you are going be asked to serve in a foreign place. All my friends were thinking this. I had no clue. I was wondering what had I done wrong or forgotten to do before graduation. Well they took me as well as another student, Bethany, out into the hallway and VP Shone came up to us and told me I was being asked to serve in Japan and Bethany to serve on the Apache reservation in Arizona. I was shocked. I didn't even know Japan was on the call list. I didn't know what to think, but somehow I felt I would take the call. Dr. Melendy gathered us up and drove us back to campus so we could talk to the district presidents. The whole way she talked to us and assured us that whatever happened, God had a plan for us. I am so thankful she was there to calm me down.
We were brought into a room in the library and told to wait for the district president associated with our call to come meet with us. While we were waiting VP Shone talked to us and asked us what we thought. Well I still had no idea what to think, it was still just so unbelievable. Finally my district president arrived and was none other than Pastor Glaeske, the South Central District President. (I remember being very young and being scared to death after listening to a sermon from Pastor Glaeske. My mother also liked to remind him whenever she could that she would like me to be brought back to Texas.) He sat down with me and began to tell me about the call. When he finished he told me that he needed to know if I would accept the call ASAP. Then he left me to think.
The first thing I did was call my dad. He told me later that when he first heard me on the phone, he thought I had wrecked my car or something. But when I told him the news, he was very supportive and told me what a great opportunity this would be. Then I had to call my mom, and I was a bit more worried about how she would react. But she too was very supportive. So after much thought and prayer I decided to take the call, after all it was only a year or two. So I told Pastor Glaeske and took the call to Japan. Needless to say, Call Day was a breeze for me.
On the Thursday before graduation, everyone graduating as a teacher was required to attend an all day seminar basically introducing us to the real world. So my roommates and I grudgingly got up earlier than usual to attend this seminar. We get there, grab some juice and coffee, and all crowd around a table waiting to begin. The seminar started with a devotion and then we talked about transferring from being a student to a teacher. Shortly after this section finished and the next began, Dr. Melendy (my college supervisor) walks over to our table and taps me on the shoulder and asks me to get my things and come with her. Now I should note, apparently every MLC student knows that when you get tapped on the shoulder you are going be asked to serve in a foreign place. All my friends were thinking this. I had no clue. I was wondering what had I done wrong or forgotten to do before graduation. Well they took me as well as another student, Bethany, out into the hallway and VP Shone came up to us and told me I was being asked to serve in Japan and Bethany to serve on the Apache reservation in Arizona. I was shocked. I didn't even know Japan was on the call list. I didn't know what to think, but somehow I felt I would take the call. Dr. Melendy gathered us up and drove us back to campus so we could talk to the district presidents. The whole way she talked to us and assured us that whatever happened, God had a plan for us. I am so thankful she was there to calm me down.
We were brought into a room in the library and told to wait for the district president associated with our call to come meet with us. While we were waiting VP Shone talked to us and asked us what we thought. Well I still had no idea what to think, it was still just so unbelievable. Finally my district president arrived and was none other than Pastor Glaeske, the South Central District President. (I remember being very young and being scared to death after listening to a sermon from Pastor Glaeske. My mother also liked to remind him whenever she could that she would like me to be brought back to Texas.) He sat down with me and began to tell me about the call. When he finished he told me that he needed to know if I would accept the call ASAP. Then he left me to think.
The first thing I did was call my dad. He told me later that when he first heard me on the phone, he thought I had wrecked my car or something. But when I told him the news, he was very supportive and told me what a great opportunity this would be. Then I had to call my mom, and I was a bit more worried about how she would react. But she too was very supportive. So after much thought and prayer I decided to take the call, after all it was only a year or two. So I told Pastor Glaeske and took the call to Japan. Needless to say, Call Day was a breeze for me.
