When I signed my contract back in June, it said that while my start date was July 19, my first paycheck would not arrive until  August 31.  While I found that annoying, I knew that if I lived very carefully during those six weeks, I woud be okay waiting that long.

That being said, I still worried about money, especially about what would happen if some emergency came up during that time.  I also really want the apartment to start looking a little better, since it’s going to be my home at least until I finish paying back my parents for grad school (unless I get married before that…).  I wasn’t letting myself buy curtains or throw rugs until after payday. 

It wasn’t a huge deal, but it consumed my thoughts more than I wanted it to.

Yesterday I went to school for a couple hours after my new employee orientation.  Waiting in my mailbox was my first paycheck.  I was so surprised my eyes filled with tears.  It was like a weight lifted off my shoulders. 

God is so good.

I hesitate to say that about this.  God is so good even if I don’t have a job.  Even if I have nothing to eat.  I know that, and I’m not trying to say that God wants us to have curtains or gym memberships.  He has given me abundantly more than I could ever need.  I acknowledge this, and I am so glad to finally be in a position to care for others financially.  But at the same time, this whole move and new job has been a trying experience for me.  This early check just served as another sign that He is with me.  He sees me, He knows me, and He cares. 

Joey proposed to his longtime girlfriend on Friday night.  Here’s the happy couple.

I am so excited that Ashley is going to be my new sister, and the fifth and final Mock girl! 

Now for the recap of my first week in Lexington.

I moved in on Sunday.  My parents and I drove the U-Haul from Williamsburg and we had everything unloaded by about 3pm.  IT WAS SO HOT THAT DAY (about 100).  My friend Steve helped us out, and Amy drove up from Blacksburg and unpacked my kitchen while I unpacked the bathroom took a shower.  Then she left and Steve took me to a picnic that his church (Grace Presbyterian – I will most likely go there) was having.  That was really nice because I got a chance to meet a lot of people my own age (and probably more Christians my own age than I knew in my two years in Williamsburg) and because I was exhausted and didn’t want to cook 🙂

Monday was my first day of work.  I don’t have much to say about my job so far because I just have so much to learn that I couldn’t have learned in school (ie, all the administrative/paperwork stuff).  RCHS does things so differently from any other school I’ve seen, but I think that the setup will be a good fit for me.  Hopefully I will get computer and phone access soon so that I can actually contribute…

Monday evening I got home and continued to work on unpacking.  That was when I discovered that my bedroom carpet was soaking wet!  The water heater had started to leak.  I called the landlord and he was there within half an hour with fans and towels.  I got a new water heater the next day, which was great (and gave me a good feeling about where I lived).  The only annoying thing about it all was in the process the AC had gotten turned off and so it was 90 degrees in my apartment when I got back on Tuesday.

Wednesday was the most trying day.  I actually had a good day at work and left feeling like I’d learned something and gotten some things accomplished.  Unfortunately, all the happy feelings left when I walked through the front door to discover the power was out.  I called the power company and reported an outtage, then tried to stay cool while still unpacking.  At around 6:30 a guy came buy and checked the power lines.  He left and I still had no power.  I called again and heard a message that there had been no power disturbance at my location.  It was at this point that I started freaking out.

I called George and asked him if he had any idea what the problem could be, but he couldn’t think of any reason why my power would be out but no one else’s, but he’d come over anyway.  By the time he arrived he knew what the problem was.  The power company was supposed to turn off the power in the apartment below mine that afternoon…..but the guy turned off mine instead.  So it was back to the phone. I finally was able to talk to a real person and Gail became my favorite person in the world.  She was such a sweet lady…I picture her being about 57 and more than pleasantly plump but I guess I’ll never know.   It took a while for her to understand the problem, but once she did, she immediately called a technician to come fix it for me.  Unfortunately, that guy didn’t seem to think it was very urgent so it took him 2 hours to get there. 

So that is the tale of my week of trials.  My Dad says that this should serve as confirmation that I am indeed supposed to be in Lexington at this job with these students, and I think he’s right.  I chose this position because I knew that here I would have the opportunities that made me choose this profession in the first place – to be deeply involved in the lives of high school students that they may come to know the God Who lovingly call their names.  I believe I can do that here.  My principal has already given me permission to be an active part of the Young Life ministry at the school….something I didn’t think would happen given my job as counselor. 

Why the title?  Chad is the guy who moved out of Apartment B.  If he hadn’t bought a house and moved out, Wednesday wouldn’t have been so exhausting and torturous for me.  Ha 🙂

OK so I’m not quite that poor.  But ever since I moved into this apartment, the Martina McBride song “This One’s For the Girls” has been stuck in my head.

This is for all you girls about 25
In little apartments, just tryin’ to get by
Livin’ on, on dreams and spaghettios
Wonderin’ where your life is gonna go

So, without further ado, here is my new home!  There is also a bathroom, but I didn’t take a picture because it looks like any tiny bathroom.  And there is another bedroom off the living room but right now all it contains is my desk, a chair, a fan, a yoga mat, weights, and my exercise DVDs.  If anyone has any suggestins for making the place more homey, please share them.  I plan to buy or make curtains after I get a few paychecks.

From Dorothy Sayers:

“[The Christian faith is] the most exciting drama that ever staggered the imagination of man.”

“I believe it to be a grave mistake to present Christianity as something charming and popular with no offence in it…We cannot blink the fact that gentle Jesus meek and mild was so stiff in His opinions and so inflammatory in His language that He was thrown out of church, stoned, hunted from place to place, and finally gibbeted as a firebrand and a public danger.  Whatever His peace was, it was not the peace of an amiable indifference.”

Just wanted to update quickly and say that I moved into my new apartment in Lexington on Sunday the 18th.  I started working the following day, and finally finished unpacking boxes Thursday night.  It was an incredibly stressful first week of work.  I have so much to learn, but the bigger stress was at home.  Just about everything that could go wrong with the apartment did.  I will share the details about all of that soon.  It’s funny now, but at the time all I wanted to do was run home to Blacksburg and forget this new career and new place. 

Last Friday, my parents and Dori picked me up and we headed to Maine for a week.  It was nice to just relax and read on the beach.  We also got in a hike, some crazy boating, and more lobster than we wanted. 🙂  I just got back this afternoon so once I unpack all of that stuff and get the apartment clean again I will take some pictures and post them.  I’m beginning my church hunt tomorrow…..I hate this part of moving….

I originally posted this in Kelly’s first SUYL Singles but I’ve updated and I’m trying again 🙂

I feel so strange doing this, but really, why not?  I have been reading Kelly’s Korner for a long time but I’ve never participated in one of her “Show Us Your Life” posts.

While this entire blog will tell you about me, here’s a short bio.  I’m Allison, turning 26 in a week, and I live in Lexington, VA, just two blocks away from Stonewall Jackson’s old house.  I’ve lived here for a year and a half and I work as a school counselor at a local high school.

I am the oldest of five kids, four girls and one lonely boy, and I love spending time with my family.  I grew up in Blacksburg, VA, so I am a huge Virginia Tech sports fan, but Clemson is growing on me because my sister goes there now.  I played volleyball and basketball in high school and in college (intramural).  I also love to sing (my dad is a worship leader), hike, camp….you name it.

Most importantly, I love the Lord and hope to spend my whole life making Him known.  That desire led me to attend a Christian college, Grove City College, in Pennsylvania, so that I could take as many classes about Christianity and the Bible as I could.  I love teaching others about God’s Word.  I became a school counselor for two main reasons – I have a passion for high school students (especially girls) and wanted to be “where they are” and I wanted to be able to have summers off so that I could do ministry.  So far I have gone on mission trips to Mexico, Belize, South Africa, and Taiwan.

What kind of man am I looking for?  Well, I have an incredible father so I tend to be picky, but a heart for God is number one.  I guess there are a lot of qualities that most girls want – smart, funny, athletic, but most importantly, I want someone dependable, trustworthy, and able to accomplish his goals.  An adventurous spirit and a love of travel don’t hurt, either 🙂

Here are some pictures of me.

With my college roommates – I’m on the far right

With all of my siblings (reverse age order…again on the far right)

Sisters (far right…hmmm I should change it up)

This time I’m on the left! I don’t always dress like that – our sorority was performing in Greek Sing

I love Tenth Avenue North.  Their new album “The Light Meets the Dark” is one of the best Christian albums I’ve heard in a while.

In this video, lead singer Mike Donehey explains the inspiration behind the song “Strong Enough to Save,” and it reminded me of many moments on summer mission trips — moments when I realized that the only good in me is Jesus.  Only HE is strong enough to save.  I can’t.  But He lets me join Him.

Anyway, Mike says it better.  Watch the video.

Tim Black, visiting from South Africa, showed this video in church on Sunday.

So many questions…

So much hurt…

So many things that just don’t — cannot ever — make sense.

“Be still and know that I am God.”

This is my Father's world. 

O let me ne'er forget 

that though the wrong seems oft so strong, 

God is the ruler yet. 

This is my Father's world: 

why should my heart be sad? 

The Lord is King; let the heavens ring! 

God reigns; let the earth be glad!

I’ve been planning to write this entry for quite a while because I want to share with all three of my readers the amazing way that God has orchestrated these “next steps” for me (although, all three readers probably know this already).  Maybe I’m actually writing this for me, so in the days to come I remember that I am right where He wants me to be.

Anyway, the story begins in February.  Over Christmas break I polished my resume and started researching school divisions.  I eventually made a list of everywhere I wanted to apply, and wrote thirty-seven unique cover letters.  Yes, I did.  Thirty-seven.

During the months of February and March I sent in applications to those 37 school divisions and this was not a simple task.  I still think the Commonwealth of Virginia needs to develop a single online application for public school jobs and then let applicants check a box next to those divisions to which they want their application sent.  Maybe someday…

The time between then and the middle of May is a bit of a blur.  I was busy with school, so I didn’t have time to become that discouraged by the fact that not much was happening with regard to those applications.  I did have a few screening interviews and received positive feedback from those, but later found out that screening interviews have VERY little to do with hiring decisions.  By the time I figured this , it was the first week of May.  I had completed all my grad school work, and I finally had the opportunity to invest all my energy into Operation Get a Job.

I must say that the realization that graduation was upon me and I still had no “real” leads on a job led to a bit of panic.  So what did I do?  I pulled out a map of Virginia’s school divisions, and starting with the Grundy, systematically worked my way through each division from the far west to the eastern shore.  I looked up every district on the web and decided then and there that no matter how awful the location, I would apply everywhere that had an opening posted.  What a horrific list.  Seriously.  I wanted to cry as I filled out [PAPER!] applications to some of Virginia’s most rural and unappealing areas, trying to convince myself that it wouldn’t be so bad to live there.  I prayed a lot while I filled out those applications.  You see, more than anything, I wanted to be in Northern Virginia.  It seemed the best choice for a single person and many of my Grove City friends now live there.  Many of my screening interviews were for districts in NOVA and, as I said before, those interviews went quite well.  Unfortunately, I knew that there were no guarantees.  Some divisions told me right away that they weren’t going to post their list of openings until July 1 and a principal in another division let me know that over 100 people had contacted him about an anticipated opening at his school.  I knew it was going to be a long shot, and it was likely that even if I got an offer from a school up there it wouldn’t be before mid-August.

So I mailed all those applications on Monday, May 10.  On Thursday I got a phone call from one of those horrid divisions.  They don’t even have internet at school….well, they have dial-up.  Their goal for the next two years is to get a broadband connection.  Um, WHAT?  I was seriously depressed.  Then later that day another school in a more populated area gave me a call and asked for an interview.  I signed up for Thursday, May 20.  I was pretty excited about the sound of that one.  It was a city I would be happy to live in, and the school looked nice even though it was an elementary school.  Then on Friday I got another phone call, this one from Rockbridge County High School.  I scheduled it for Tuesday the 18th.

I graduated the Sunday and drove home to Blacksburg on Monday.  While I was driving home, I got another call from a school in the Winchester area.  That interview was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon. 

Tuesday’s interview went very well, although at the time I didn’t know how well.  It was unlike any of the interviews I had had up to the point – it lasted over an hour and I felt quite comfortable talking with the other counselors and the principal.

On Wednesday I drove up to Winchester for my next interview.  This one was nothing like the RCHS.  When I arrived at the end of the school day I learned that the principal wasn’t even on site.  I sat in the conference room with the assistant principal and five teachers (and the principal on speakerphone).  I don’t want to say bad things about the school, but this interview frustrated me.  First of all, I drove almost four hours for a 20 minute long interview and the person who would ultimately be making the hiring decision wasn’t even there.  Secondly, while the teachers were friendly, they clearly had no idea what a school counselor was supposed to do and they did not like the one who was leaving.  Finally, the questions they asked me were read from a list and did nothing to help me understand the school better.  I also didn’t have a chance to ask any questions because the next interview was set to begin (the guy got there before mine started and they didn’t want to get behind).  Before I left I did  manage to ask what the process would be from here on out, and the assistant principal told me they would make their final decision by the end of next week and would let me know by telephone if they were offering me the position.

Thursday, May 20, was quite a day.  I was staying at Aunt Lisa and Uncle Bucky’s house in Herndon because it made more sense to say in NoVa before driving to Charlottesville for the next interview instead of going all the way back to Blacksburg.  I was packing up my stuff around 10am when my phone rang.  I will always remember sitting in the guest room at the Ray’s house listening to Jennifer Weaver offer me the job at RCHS.  I can’t remember much about the conversation, but I do remember the overwhelming sense of relief that I felt in that moment.  Although I didn’t accept the job immediately, I knew right then that no matter what happened with the rest of my interviews, I would be employed in September.

Later that day I had my interview with the Charlottesville elementary school.  Honestly, it wasn’t that great.  I think I answered questions well, but as soon as I walked into the building and met the principal I knew I didn’t want to work there.  That, coupled with the job offer already on the table, helped me not be nervous at all, but I probably looked like I didn’t care very much….and I didn’t.  Then, as I drove back to Blacksburg, the secretary from the Winchester school called and asked if I could come back the next day for a final interview.  My response….”Ummmmmm that’s not going to work.”  Then I told her I had another offer that I was going to accept.

Seriously though?  I drive four hours for a twenty minute PHONE interview (essentially)….you tell me that this interview is the only interview….then you change your mind and want me to come again 48 hours later????  Praise God that I already had an offer.  The way the school handled the interview process made it clear that it would not be a good place to work.

To try to keep an already extremely long story from getting even longer, I will end here.  In three weeks I will be moving to Lexington to be the 9th grade counselor at RCHS.  I have met many staff members already and I think I am going to love this job.  God clearly had His hand in the job search, and while I never prayed to be in Lexington and there are still things about it that worry me, I know that it is where I am supposed to be.

Once I move in I will post about the way God was faithful in finding me a place to live and all the amazing details of THAT journey.  It’s a TINY apartment, but it’ll work for me.  I’ll try to post pics when it finally starts looking homey.