Kindergarten: a good place to start my real job

My journey to kindergarten actually started in 2004 when I spent some time in a 2nd grade classroom and watched an amazing teacher teach all kids, beautifully. I felt right at home and this planted the seed. In 2006 I went back to school so I could pursue this thing called teaching. Right about then districts started cutting their budgets and hiring fewer and fewer teachers every year---good timing, right? I've been VERY fortunate to have a teaching job every year, and I feel incredibly blessed by that gift! The stressful thing about these jobs has been they were each for only one year,  leaving me wondering what I'd be doing the following year (will I have a job? what grade? what school?). God knew the bigger picture. God has been using these years to refine me, not only as a person, but to be an even better teacher. So now,  after many many interviews, a few different grade levels, millions of wonderful learning experiences, amazing relationships with teachers, parents and kids, I now have a REAL teaching job!!!!! Of course all this was not without some great disappointments, frustrations and sacrifices along the way...all character building experiences I'm sure!  This year I started teaching as a substitute in a kindergarten class. I then went through the longest and most rigorous interview process I've EVER been a part of (including a teaching observation with a group of students I didn't know), to become a full time continuing teacher in my kindergarten class. As in, FOREVER.  As in, next summer I will be setting up my classroom in July and not over Labor Day weekend (all while figuring out how to teach a new grade level). As in, I can move all my teacher belongings out of our basement and permanently into my classroom. As in, I can think about my career and what I might do next year or the year after that or in 10 years from now, and not just think about my job that will end in June. As in, I no longer need to feel like I'm on a daily job interview. As in, I can now watch my students grow up for the next 6 years. This list in my mind keeps getting longer as I think of all the ways my world just changed. I'm so honored to be in the teaching profession, it is not easy, but it is rewarding in so many ways. I am thrilled to help these new little learners start their educational journey. A huge weight has been lifted and I feel great sense of relief, and in some ways I feel free to teach my heart out like I never have before. Praise God!