roses in my heart

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Amanda wants to be a teacher! ...and she'll be a good teacher too!! She's practicing already...most days after school, she gets her beanie bopper dolls out and 'class is in session'. She has the blackboard, the books, the pencils... Currently she's teaching kindergarden...not bad for a grade 3'er! :)

It makes me smile to see Amanda play that way. It reminds me of when I was a little girl and I would play school. I used to take a brown paper bag (they used to pack groceries in them, you know?!) and use it as my chalk board... You see, I wanted to be a teacher when I grew up too! Well, actually, I wanted to be a wife, a mother ... and a teacher. I would pretend all of these things with my Barbie, and thankfully I can look back now and see that two of these dreams came true:)

A teacher...hmmm...what did I want to teach?...for the longest time it was elementary school...then for a while it was music and piano...in high school I decided I wanted to major in English and minor in Social Studies. I always wanted to be a teacher, except for in grade 6, when I decided I wanted to be a child psycologist...because no child would be as mis-understood as me!?! (I can chuckle about that now;)

So if I wanted to be a teacher so bad, why am I not a teacher right now? Well, practicality set in. Family matters for me were such that I needed to be able to take care of myself, and at the time, there were no jobs locally for graduating teachers. When I realized this, I decided not to go to University...I thought that maybe I would go to business college, learn some skills and get to work...only, my guidance councillar got wind of this...and, well, convinced me that would be a waste. My guidance councillar actually had a background in Economics and that sounded interesting to me, so off I headed to University and the College of Commerce. I loved Economics very much...and even thought I would like to teach
it at the University level...but then more practical considerations set in (were there jobs in this career path?) ...and, I ended up majoring in accounting.

Yes, accounting. I'm an accountant, a chartered accountant. Most people who get to know me are surprised by what I do for a living...even I am often surprised by it?! Do you know the really odd part...I'm good at what I do?! (The grace of God is amazing!) One thing that my mother always instilled in me as I was growing up was the need for hard work...and I've learned that if you work hard at anything, you usually will succeed. But I tell you, somedays it is really hard to work hard at something that you don't love. Oh sure, there are parts of what I do that I have loved along the way... When I was working in public practice, I really liked training and mentoring my staff. I also taught professional development courses, and I loved that! Now working in industry, I do like working with my staff, and I like it when I do finally get through in terms of helping someone to see things in a new light... I like that people often say that I am not your typical accountant...that's a true compliment, and I like being able to encourage and help others around me to grow... It may not be what I'm paid for, but it is the light in my work week.

Before I was married, I used to have time to lead small groups, coach leaders and teach classes outside of work (at church), and that used to help balance my fulfillment level. But as you can imagine, I cannot fit all of these things in now that I'm a wife and a mom. And that's ok because being a wife and a mom were my BIG dreams anyway! ...and through them, I get a chance to nurture people, and even to teach a bit too. If anything, I'd like more time to devote to these roles. These days, it can be really hard to go work as an accountant by day, when my heart is all about what I do after work. I know I need to be grateful for the job God's given me and for the flexibility to be able to take my daughter to school and pick her up on the days I need to. But...my heart is at home most days, and that can be a struggle. I'm so grateful for my handsome husband and darling daughter who make that struggle worthwhile. I LOVE being Les' wife and Amanda's mom. And so, I cherish their dreams...

And... when Amanda grows up, she wants to be a teacher....AND.....she WILL be one - too!