Do you ever have things happen where you think-ok this is a turning point in my life?
I can’t believe it’s been seven maybe eight years since I started blogging and chronicling my journeys around Europe.
Tonight as I’m planning my costume for storybook character day tomorrow I sat down for a moment to remember Liliana, who passed away six years today and I was reading an old post about her being two.
And I had the realization that I now work with kids that age all the time. It’s my job. And it has been pretty much since I left Malta in one way or another. I’d never thought about it before because her death was a turning point for so many things in my life. Yet now it seems like the most obvious one is that her life was the first of hundreds of 2 year olds to come into my life.
After taking care of her I moved back to Malta and took care of a girl with cerebral palsy. So she also was the beginning of me taking care of kids with special needs. Her middle brother was 2 and he was my buddy that year.
When I worked at the gym I was with the preschoolers every day. Then I nannied for two year old twins. And now my current job is two year olds. God had a plan all along apparently.
In high school adults always would ask me if I was going to be a preschool teacher or if I’d be a writer. I’d give an adamant no or a scoff of some sort. I’ve since learned I’m an enneagram 4 and that’s typical-I do not like being put in a box with anything and if people put me in one I will counter it. Thus dance.
I know I was called to dance and I still dance a lot, but it’s not my job. Like maybe we’re not created to do just one thing. Maybe God has lots of plans. People often box themselves into one job. One big picture. One large plan. But maybe it’s about a lot of little plans stitched together like the costumes I used to sew. All in preparation for one long dance. Each prop, actor, and lighting design all staged perfectly.
Sometimes I’m in awe how God took me from dancing in New York and teaching dance in Connecticut where I felt like all my dreams had come true-to realizing there were so many things I’d never dreamed about that were now being fulfilled. Random ones like wanting to live in the Mediterranean or childhood ones like wanting to live in Florida. To tiny ones like who’s in my class. Or giving me a dog. Or my roommate calling me up telling me she’s looking for a place to live the day I start looking at houses. Only a creative creator could be so detailed.
So tonight we were singing about God’s goodness and thanking Him for all He’s done. And I went through out loud thanking Him for all these things. Thankfulness is the key to contentment. And joy. And peace.
Fabrics are still being sewn, dances choreographed, and I have no clue how it will all come together. But it’s neat to watch it weave together and I’m thankful for the experiences that lead to new ones. And I’ll always be grateful for that turning point year where I ended up taking care of the sweetest, feistiest, little girl.