My Latest Adventure….

On January 4th, 2016 I became a history teacher.

I stepped to the front of the room and took half a seat on the tall whicker chair.  Twenty-something sets of eyes blinked up at me, waiting for me to say something, anything.  I grinned letting the seconds tick by a little longer.  For a moment, it felt like everything went still, and I was the only one unfazed.  My mind was filled with hundreds of questions:

Where would we be at the end of this year?  

Who was the class clown?

What was that girl’s story?  

Why did that boy have a bruise under his eye?  

Which students would love history?  

Which students would hate it?  

One question played a little louder than the others, and a little more frequently:  How would I make a difference, here?

I didn’t doubt that my presence would make a difference.  I didn’t doubt that this new season would be abundantly filled.  But I did wonder multiple times in that .0057382 of a frozen second WHAT kind of difference I would make.

The year began as all school years do.  With half of the students excited to be back from Christmas Break, and the other half wishing they could hit rewind and do it all over again.  You could feel the contrast in the air, but both groups had a mystic curiosity about them for the young new history teacher that greeted them each day.

I have to say, out of all of the adventures I’ve embarked upon, teaching is by far the most complex.

It’s satisfying, exhausting and requires all of you: every single ounce.

My first month of evenings were spent starting at 4:45am and bedtime quickly calling at or around 7:00pm.  Date nights were spent grading papers over episodes of Netflix and home cooked dinners on the couch.  Time with friends involved the latest telling of the crazy story of something a 6th grader did or said.  Memories often flooded back to when we were their age, remembering the thoughts and motives of eleven and twelve year olds.

The first month ended as quickly as it began.

When I first heard that I got this teaching job, I was absolutely stunned.  I honestly didn’t think teaching would be in the cards for me anytime soon.  I had applied to a handful of teaching jobs previously, and all of them ended in a handshake and a “good luck elsewhere”.  I had imagined “elsewhere” to be my photography business and running full-fledged into the pursuit of my dreams.

But sometimes the Lord awakens part of us that we didn’t even know were sleeping.

Those parts, once given a chance to be awake and wobble around a bit, invigorate us and remind us that there is more to us than what we even we see.

Our hearts are layers of painted canvas, and every new adventure is a new piece of the portrait being painted.  Sometimes, old parts of us are painted over with fresh color, but that doesn’t mean that they’re gone for good.  If anything, they got us here.  And here is the best place to be.

That question is still playing in my head.  How am I making a difference, here?  Often fills my heart in the tear filled stress of a heavy day or the excitement of a day filled with “yays”.  But regardless, I’m here.  So, in honor of being “here”, I’m happy to announce that Anna Filly Photography is still alive and running.  Thankfully I’m not giving up my dreams, I’m just giving new ones a chance to be planted in the soil of my heart.

And let me just brag for a second– my sweet Anna Filly Brides have been so supportive through this process.  One of them even got a history teaching job the week after I did– SO COOL!  I do apologize though, that it’s been quiet here on the blog.  I think I just needed a month to find the balance between my career, my calling and everything in-between.  Regardless, you’re reading this, and for that I’m grateful.  You are why I sit here and pour my heart out through my fingers onto my keyboard each week.

2016 looks brighter than ever!

Cheers to new adventures, and running full fledged into the lives we’d never dreamed we’d live.

God is so good.

xo

AnnaFilly

PS If you want to know even more detail about my latest adventures and what 2016 has in store click here!