Where I've been...and where I'm going

I'm was just on my facebook account and thinking about all the places that I've been, and the lives that I've touched, and the lives that have touched me. I saw some faces from the Academy where I learned who I was. I saw some faces from the Institute, where I learned how to be who I was, then I saw the faces of hundreds of students that I had the honor of teaching at Crossroads and Northside.

Leaving both of those schools was so hard, and I left behind so many great friends and memories. What gets me through the lonely times is what a good friend told me when I left my first school. She said that I was being taken from Crossroads b/c there were students in Florida that needed me to impact them the way that I had impacted her family. (I taught her oldest daughter and coached her oldest and second daughter on the softball team).

You know, she was right in a way. There were kids in Florida that needed me, but I also learned some invaluable lessons while I was at Northside. Now God has me back in NC working in the restaurant field, and I keep hearing my friend's words in my head. I am supposed to be here b/c I have people who need me here. Like the girl who had an abortion over the summer, or the kid whose parents are getting a divorce and she doesn't have anyone else to talk to. Or the young man heading into the army who may end up as a Chaplin, or the recently engaged couple seeking pre-marital counseling. This, not to mention the customers that I've met, the man whose mother is getting older and will pass away soon, the pastor who faces the question of staying at his church or moving on, the gay couple that I can treat with dignity and respect, the homeless guy who was just passing through (and stayed for a month)...

The list goes on and on. I wonder where I'll be in 2 years, or 5, or 10. What I'm sure of is that the Lord will keep using me to impact those around me, and that those around me will keep impacting my life as I build those relationships that will last a lifetime, even if we crossed paths for a brief moment...