Questions Answered!

Ok....so I took Susanne's idea and told readers they could ask me anything.
Here is what we have so far!  This was kinda fun......it really got me thinking...especially the 2nd one! (hopefully this is posted...I set it to post while I am away from blogging this week)


  Susanne, from Living to Tell the Story wants to know: ".... if you didn't have the job you have now, what would you like to do for a living instead? And is the job you are doing now what you wanted to be when you grew up?"

If I wasn't teaching part time as a Special Education Support Teacher, I would want to either be a Forensic Psychologist with the FBI or a photojournalist/nature guide in any of the Adirondack regional areas or up in Acadia National Park.  The job I currently have is one that I LOVE and it is right where the Lord wants me for now.  I took it because it got me into my children's school district, is part-time and has me back in the Special Education field after being out of it since 1995. From 1987-1995, I was a Master Teacher in an inner city PreK special needs classroom, similar to what I am currently doing but with all the responsibilities and paperwork of a full time Special Ed teacher. I was a very involved teacher, implementing my own curriculum plus of course using typical preK curricula as well. I also did home visits monthly and ran team meetings, IEP meetings (required by law), and wrote newsletters.  After being a stay at home mom for 6 years, I was a peer counselor & parenting instructor (where I wrote, developed, and implemented a parenting curriculum) in an inner city crisis pregnancy center in a city east of where we live.  It was a ministry and I burned out after 5 years of doing it part time.  It was very intense.  When I was a child, I wanted to be a music teacher (I have my undergrad degree in Music Education/Piano and subbed in that area for only 2 years, plus taught private piano for 8 years, 1 of which was back in my hometown area just after college and before Graduate School).  I felt the Lord leading me to the Educational Psychology/Special Education field and it was confirmed when I won a full research fellowship to earn a Masters Degree!
 So...in a way I am doing what I have always desired to do:  teach.  I also wanted to be a mom once I hit my 30's and the Lord has blessed me with 2 awesome daughters!  That is my most important job of all!    I love teaching....and it continues to be a passion and something I will even do in the fall once I begin volunteering in our church's youth ministry!!

Ok...that was an easy question!

 Pop Quiz Giver asked a challenging one! She said "OK, a deep one... what is something you've discovered about yourself while teaching kids?"

 ok....I have never taught kids, which are baby goats, but I have taught children! lol.....(a joke!)

I have discovered that I am much more patient with children than with my self, especially when it comes to those "life steps" the Lord wants to teach me.  I have learned over the years that children, especially "special needs" children, need lots of patience.  Lots.  And the steps they master are sometimes done in small increments. We call these "baby steps".  They especially need much time for mastering certain "life steps".
 This has taught me that, I, too, have a Master Teacher, who is Patient with me.  He (my Redeemer!) allows me to take baby steps and sometimes I master something right away and most often, the progress is S-L-O-W!!  I have learned this mainly from the children in my past classrooms who were labeled "emotionally disturbed" due to being survivors of abuse. (sexual and physical).  For some reason, the Lord gave me a way to reach these children.   I connected with them.  Many times, many of them (these are 3-5 year olds I am writing about) would come into my classroom unable (meaning unwilling) to talk. They COULD; they just WOULDN'T talk They were not autistic.  They were not cognitively delayed with mental retardation.(well, I did have 2 who were MR)  They were choosing not to speak because they had been traumatized.  MUCH patience was needed.  Much love was needed.  Much prayer was said over them. (no, it was not a Christian school but....you don't have to pray aloud to pray!!)  I discovered that I could speak to these children the way the Lord speaks to me.  Sometimes in a firm voice.  Sometimes in a whisper.  Each time, attention is drawn.......and each time I have had a child start to utter words in my classroom, once she/he felt safe (emotionally).
It taught me that my God has lots of patience with me.  He allows me to go just so far in my "shadow areas" or "dark places" and then He begins to either get my attention firmly by His Word, or a friend speaking Truth, or a pastor's sermon, OR He gets my attention by a soft whisper and a gentle tugging of my heart strings.  I have discovered that I have lots of layers to my spiritual side. Lots of work has been done to "feel" safe and free. (I can't go into detail here and I know you'll understand....Pop Quiz Giver will know what I am talking about as she has heard my testimony...she is a personal friend from years ago!)...ok this is long...thanks Pop Quiz Giver!  In summary?  PATIENCE....it is a learned virtue, of that I am convinced...and I've discovered that I do have it IF I allow the Lord to be embracing me in all Truth.  Baby steps.  Sometimes that's all we need.


and from e-mom at Chrysalis "Let's see... hmmm... OK... if you could go back to school, what subjects would you study? Do you think you ever will return to school? And what do you envision for your old age. There. That should keep you going for awhile!"


All righty, then!  Gotta love e-mom....her blog is always so full of wisdom and spiritual knowledge. I think I learn something new every single time I visit her blog!  By school, I am assuming she means college or graduate school so I'll asnwer based on that assumption:  I would study journalism, photography, forensic psychology, social psychology, children's literature,  and I'd take courses in counseling, particularly from a Christian perspective.  To catch up my readers:  I do have a Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education and Piano with a minor in Voice. This was acquired at this Christian college in western NY. I did not get a full time teaching job in music when I graduated so I spent the next 2 years working in the public schools as a substitute teacher and took a part time job as a Vocal Director for a small school district in central NY, helping to lead and direct their spring musical. I also taught piano in a private studio.  After a couple more years of subbing, working in retail and fast food (to help pay off my loans!), and as a nanny,  I heard the call of God on my life to teach special needs children and won a full fellowship from a national research grant to earn my Master of Science degree in Educational Psychology/Special Education, along with earning my NYS permanent teaching certification.  I did this at a research university 
here in the area where I now live.


So....NO...I don't think I will ever get another degree.  A Masters is enough for me, especially with the certification.  However, I wouldn't mind taking some of those courses I mention above, once my own daughters are through with school and college!  I have a ways......(this is what happens when you choose to be an older mom...I did the career thing first!)


What I envision for my "old age?"  Well, old to me, is once I turn 70! Seriously....I am 50 and I don't even really feel middle-aged yet, although I know technically I am! lol


I have no idea where the Lord will take Dave and I but I do know we envision being out of the capital region of NYS.  MY desire is to have a log cabin house in the central Adirondacks, near Wells, on the Sacandaga River.  This is a very remote section of the ADKS but I LOVE it.  Dave would like to retire to either NH or Maine, so.....that might be where we end up. IF we go to Maine, it would be near Acadia National Park and it might be sooner than we think. (his job has an office up in that area and we really could move anytime if we wanted.). We definitely will be waiting until both daughters are out of high school. 


Whatever I do, I know I will continue to be serving in some capacity of ministry. I'd like to get into more marriage ministry once my children are out of the house....I envision doing this with my husband wherever the Lord leads us.


So....that was fun!  Any more questions??  How about some of you doing this?