The road God calls us to walk is sometimes bittersweet.

Tomorrow will be my last day teaching at Cartmell Elementary. I have had the craziest year there, and there have definitely been ups and downs at school and at home. But when it comes right down to it, I love working there. I love everything about teaching in public school—everything except the time I spend away from my own children. I love classroom decorations, lesson planning, and working with other teachers. (OK, I don’t always love meetings and paperwork, but those don’t even bother me that much.) Most of all, I love the students, and I love knowing I’m making even a small difference in their lives.

This year was a little bit rough at work because of some unusual circumstances, but even with the difficulties, I still loved teaching—every minute of it. So saying goodbye to full-time teaching has me kind of down. Most teachers are so excited about the coming summer vacation. I will enjoy my summer for sure. But I’m probably the least excited teacher at my school right now. Packing up boxes and taking down decorations has brought some definite sorrow.

Sometimes God calls us to do things that bring us some sadness. Contrary to our society’s philosophy that we should do what feels good, the Lord calls us to sacrifice. So many people sacrifice what’s best for their children to do what feels good to them. The Lord often calls us to sacrifice our own desires for the good of our children.

So, while I feel kind of down about leaving full-time public school teaching, I am hopeful that God will bless my sacrifice and benefit my family because of it.