Random Eight

Amy at Laughing Through the Tears tagged me for his meme. The objective is for me to share 8 tidbits of information about myself for you, my audience, to read. Enjoy. Or not.

1. I knew beyond the shadow-of-a-doubt what I wanted to be "when I grew up" by the age of 15. A secretary. Or, as we are now called today, administrative assistant. Obviously it was not my ambition to make a lot of money with the career I chose. Rather, I wanted fulfillment in my job, using my God-given gifts doing something I knew I'd enjoy. I've never been disappointed with my choice to pursue this as a career.

2. My top three spiritual gifts are administration (no, really?), hospitality and service. It didn't take rocket science to figure out what an appropriate career choice for me would be. It kind of helps when your career and ministry objectives line up. I've worked in both secular and Christian environments. Both have their advantages and disadvantages.

3. (I'm loving how these eight tidbits are kind of "melding" together). After high school I had my entire life planned out. This is how it was supposed to be: One year of Bible College followed by one year of Business College to get my Administrative Assistant Diploma (either medical or legal). During that time I'd find my future mate at Bridal School, oops, I mean Bible School, we'd get married after my business college training was over. I'd find a great job. We'd have four kids and live happily ever after. Oh, and my wedding color would be pink. And I'd live in a very pink-oriented house. And I'd have a Bichon Frise dog, maybe even two. And my husband would be so great at his job (not sure what that was going to be, exactly), that I'd never have to worry about finances or that kind of stuff.

4. This is what really happened: I attended one year of school at Bethany Bible Institute in Hepburn, Saskatchewan. I loved it. I decided to return for my second year and earn my Diploma. I did. Husbandless. Boyfriendless, even. I made it through two years of Bible school with not even so much as a boyfriend. I attended Saskatoon Business College and took a 10-month Legal Administrative Assistant course and finished a month early. Another girl beat me by 1% as the student with the highest average for this course. That set me back $500.00 (due to the scholarship she received and I didn't). Rats!! I got a job at a law firm within days of graduating. I was the receptionist. The lawyers were jerks. The secretaries were snobs. I was struggling with my decision to pursue the legal diploma. After all, I was working (in a sense) for criminals of all kinds. I was very lonely and became close to suicidal. My self-esteem was hitting rock-bottom. I felt God urging me to return to Bible school. I thought it was ludicrous! But He kept urging. I obeyed. It was the best thing I could have done.

5. Since my tidbits are so long, I'm breaking this part of "me" into two tidbits. Hope that's okay. Like I said, I returned to Bethany for my third and final year. Since Mr. Right hadn't shown up yet (according to plan), I thought I'd find him back at Bible school. I didn't. But . . . I could have been someone's girlfriend if I would have taken someone up on his offer. Sorry, not exactly my type. Nice try. Anyways, I graduated with a Degree. I got to go to Paraguay for a missions trip. I got to spend my last year of Bible school with my brother Scotty in my class. I made great friends and finally got over my self-esteem issues. I had a new sense of purpose for my life.

6. Continuing on . . . I stayed on at Bethany as one of two Assistant Dean of Women. I lived in the dorm with the female students and was sort of like a dorm parent. This was one of the most rewarding, yet challenging jobs I've ever had. I loved it. I loved working with students. I loved working with the staff. I felt like I had something to offer and my efforts were appreciated.

7. My summers during my "educational years" were spent in various settings. Right after high school I worked as a waitress at a Ukrainian restaurant in the town next to my hometown. I really enjoyed it. This is going to sound bizarre, but I had always wanted to be a waitress. That summer I got my first taste of it. After my first year of Bible school my best friend and I headed off into the great unknown of Banff, Alberta, Canada. I was a breakfast waitress and chambermaid. This job was not ideal. Actually, it was horrible. And I missed my family SOOO much. I was so glad when the summer was over. The summer before attending business college was spent back at the Ukrainian restaurant. After business college I worked at the law firm. After my third year at Bethany I worked at a Bible camp close to home. After my Assistant Deaning position (it ended in April when school ended), I worked at another Bible camp in Northern Manitoba. I love, love, loved it there. The place was SOOO rustic. I'm not rustic. But it didn't matter. The family that ran the camp was SOOO good to me; I hardly even noticed that I was beginning to turn a bit rustic.

8. I'm on number eight already? Oh boy. Gotta wrap this up. Number eight might be long. After camp was over, I wasn't really sure where I would be employed. All I knew was that my best friend and I would be living together in Saskatoon. She had found us an apartment over the summer and I was ready to move in. She was/is a nurse, and her job was all lined up. A couple of weeks before I was to move, the Business Manager from Bethany called me to offer me a job as the Receptionist for the school. Of course, this was a dream-come-true for me and I accepted their offer. I did this for two years. In my second year I met Wayne. We met initially at a wedding of mutual friends, and shortly after he started attending my church's College and Career group (which I had just started up a few weeks prior), and well, the rest is history. If you want to hear more of this "plan for my life" you'll have to wait until I'm tagged for another meme of this nature.

All I can say is . . . At 18 years of age, I had no idea where God would lead me. My plans were definitely not His plans.