The Abundance of His House

Your steadfast love, O lord, extends to the heavens,

     Your faithfulness to the clouds.

Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;

     Your judgments are like the great deep;

     man and beast you save, O lord.

How precious is Your steadfast love, O God!

     The children of mankind take refuge in

     the shadow of Your wings.

They feast on the abundance of Your house,

     and You give them drink from the river of Your delights.

For with You is the fountain of life;

     in Your light do we see light.

                Psalm 36:5-9

I've been reading through Psalms lately, and my reading of this passage earlier this week couldn't have been timed more perfectly. God is just good like that, isn't he?

This week I experienced the immeasurable, unexplainable, overwhelming {abundance of His house}.  I was given the opportunity to be the 6th grade English teacher at a wonderful school starting in the fall.  Everything, from the way the interview happened to their compensation offer, can only be attributed to the Lord's goodness and grace.  

Here's the story...You can skip this part if you're not interested in details. :)

I've been substitute teaching usually at least three days a week at this school all year.  Several months ago, the principal told me that they were adding a 7th grade writing class next year, and I would definitely have an interview when they began the process.  While I was grateful for this possibility, I didn't want to "put all my eggs in one basket," so I continued to put out applications at other schools. Fast forward to this past Monday...I'm scheduled to sub, and as I'm showering and getting dressed I'm praying that God will open a door somewhere soon for me to able to teach full-time.  I never expected that "somewhere soon" would happen by 9:30 that morning.  During "activity period" (the kid's 30 minute morning break) the principal comes to my room with a smile and says, "Today is a good day!"  I start to squirm, my mind beginning to race.  She continues by asking me if I'd be okay with 6th grade--I'm thinking, "okay? I'd be thrilled to be teaching alien children at this point!"-- and if I would like to come talk with her during my free period later in the afternoon.  Of course I would.  I was in shock to say the least, but oddly enough, I wasn't freaking out nervous.  God knew what he was doing by allowing the interview to be so spur of the moment--He didn't give me time to get self-absorbed in worry, over-analyzing, or preparing.  He gave me time to just start praying for calmness and the right words to say.  And the meeting couldn't have gone any better--totally low stress.  After about thirty minutes, she said the only thing left for me to do was to meet with the headmaster over at the high school so he could "sign off" on her decision.  Fast forward to the next day, Tuesday, and here we go again with those spur of the moment things.  I was subbing again that day, and the principal tells me around 2pm that the headmaster wants to meet with me at 2:15. Hello, that's in 15 minutes!  Once again, the Lord was showing me that He was in control.  So I book it over to the high school building, and that meeting goes swimmingly as well.  Then on Thursday afternoon as soon as I get home from subbing, I get a call from the principal.  My contract had just arrived from the business office, and their offer was significantly more than what I had originally been told it would be.  More of His abundance. 

I am blessed beyond measure and reminded once again of this truth:

image via

So, lots of planning to do this summer.  Then new teacher orientation the last week of July.  Then in-service.  And then I'll welcome about 120 6th graders into the brave new world of middle school!  I'm so so excited.