MY DREAM… GOD’S WILL… GOD’S TIME

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven - Ecclesiastes 3:1

May 1, 2020, was a day to remember. I finally posted the TikTok I reserved as a celebration for the day I’ll be hired in the US. In an instant, I found myself enjoying the preparations with the rest of the iTeach teachers. The next short-term goal that followed was to get an embassy interview schedule. Everything, as planned, fell into place except for the realization of the embassy interview. PP10052 happened. Hopes, dreams, and expectations sank into oblivion. November came, I applied to another state, got hired but their visa sponsor stopped processing J-1 applications for winter 2021. I began to question if the US is really for me. Then, I woke up on December 20, rubbing my eyes in disbelief. I was re-hired by the school district here in Alaska and they want me ASAP.

The days that followed came as a blur with all documents and other stuff that need to be prepared in the middle of the Christmas and New Year holidays. The two-week preparation, extended PP10052, and a swab test in the middle of my cough and coldS in Manila all added up to my cold feet in leaving my daughter behind on such short notice. There were moments I doubted if I can make it on the target date. Yet, I had to keep up and undergo the process just holding on to God’s promise that if it is meant for me, He will make a way for me and clear the obstacles along the way. Yes, God is so good to help me prepare myself emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Lo and behold! January 10, 2021, in the middle of the layover in Seattle, I can’t help but be in awe of God’s work in my life. It was at that very moment when reality crept in. I am about to realize my biggest dream yet, emboldened with such a great leap of faith.

I am immensely thankful for the gift of persons especially to iTeach America for opening the doors in making this far-fetched dream or so I thought, a reality. My heart is brimming with gratitude to all the instrumental people whom God has sent to make the impossible possible. Family, workmates, current and previous bosses, friends, and the iTA family, all supported me throughout the short process.

I highly commend iTA for creating among us teachers, a family away from home, where everyone is just a message away, ready to help, to affirm, to cry with, and to rejoice with. This eased the challenges and demands that need to be hurdled and this what makes this agency distinct. As I enter into a new mission to be a middle-school teacher here in rural Alaska, I bring with me my dreams and God’s purpose. It is not an accident to be where I am right now. I am here at the right place, at the right time, and for a reason. All these make me super ecstatic to see what the future unfolds.