God is good, all the time…all the time, God is good!
God is smart. No, seriously!
It’s amazing to me that I continually find new ways how smart God is. God isn’t only smart, but He’s a wonderful planner! I know, right?!
I have a saying, sort of, and it comes out in a bunch of different ways, but the bottom line is I like to tell people that planning is a good thing…but to remember to write their plans in pencil for God’s plans are so much better! So why am I blabbering on about this?
Ok, in high school I was an ok student and an ok baseball player. I got “A”s and “B”s and the occasional “C” if the class was really hard (like 12th grade chemistry, for example). I shot for the stars when it came to grades but accepted the ceiling fan of my room and studied just enough to be slightly above average…whatever that means.
Anyway, I hadn’t really figured out what I wanted to do with my life, nor was I a Christian other than in name only (I was a cultural Christian…I mean, I wasn’t Muslim or Buddhist or Hindu so I was Christian, right?) and possibly, likely, even “atheist” from time to time if it suited me to be so. But anyway, I hadn’t really any idea what I wanted to do after high school.
I liked science and I liked history and I liked baseball. I already had a pretty good idea that baseball wasn’t going to be my thing professionally because I wasn’t THAT good. Also, I had a pretty good idea that I didn’t want the lifestyle of a baseball player. Now, for all my nominal Christianity and quasi-atheism I really wanted a family. And I had an idea that baseball as a career for someone like myself would be bad…batting around (pun intended) in single A ball for an entire career doesn’t really promote “family” know what I mean? But I loved the game and I loved what I was taught because of it and my involvement with it. So I figured coaching might be the way to go for me and I was good enough to play in college…so I had a plan!
I graduated with 5.0 science credits and 5.0 history credits and a sense of where I wanted to go career-wise after college…I believed I wanted to be a teacher and a baseball coach; high school of course. So off I went to college! Sort of.
In high school I used to help people out with their classes whenever I could. I just loved the spark, the glint, in someone’s eyes as I explained something to them and it made sense. Ok, not really, that never happened…I just wanted to teach because I wanted to coach! But it’s the thought that counts, right? No? Sue me.
By the middle of my Spring semester of my senior year I had nowhere to go to college. Oh, word got out that I was going to the University of North Carolina on a baseball scholarship, that’s for sure…unfortunately, it wasn’t true! I did speak with the college…once…and I guess that’s all it took! Because of that some schools simply crossed me off their recruiting lists.
And then the word got back to me by way of congratulations that I had signed a baseball scholarship with the University of Tennessee! Yep…things were looking up for a shortstop from a high school in Jacksonville. Unfortunately, that particular shortstop wasn’t me either! Apparently my friends that congratulated me on going to college on baseball scholarship confused the 5 foot 11 inch white guy with long blonde hair with the 5 foot 8 inch black shortstop from a different school. Oh well…
An again, apparently this was so rampant that other schools simply crossed me off their recruiting lists! Coolio!
Oh yes, and then there’s the one local university that actually DID OFFER me a scholarship! I turned it down. It was a private school in the area and even though the scholarship was 50%, there was just no way I could justify having my parents pay the other 50% of the cost. I think, if I remember correctly, that I came up with some cockamamie excuse about the coach or something…I really don’t remember all the reasons I gave for turning it down, but deep within me it was really the cost; I didn’t want to put my parents through that!
One of the reasons I gave for turning down the scholarship was that simultaneously I got a phone call from another university in town (actually I think I made the call first, but whatever) who was confused that I was even available to pick up as a player! And they invited me to “walk-on” to the team. Basically, a walk-on is a player who is on the team but is not on scholarship. So I was told I’d be on the team just not getting any money for it. But that was ok because it was lots and lots cheaper than even the 50% remaining after the other scholarship offer! So I was good to go!
I’ll skip all the baseball talk and save that for another post, maybe, and get to my point!
As I sat entered college the assistant coach had already chosen my classes for me. That didn’t really sit well with me so I made an appointment with the guidance counselor that I was required to have as an athlete. And boy am I glad I did!
I basically chose Biology as my major and I wanted to minor in Education…but it wasn’t allowed. However, being in the College of Arts and Sciences I was required to have a minor. I took a few classes here and there but ended up minoring in Psychology. I also spoke with the College of Education to figure out what would be needed to get certified to teach and I took those courses as well!
Eventually, I earned an athletic scholarship…nice, right? Sort of…Because all of my College of Education courses DID NOT COUNT for my hours which kept me eligible for scholarship…bummer. So I took classes every single summer 4 years! Zoinkes!
Anyway, Biology it was! And baseball it was! And education is was!
I got married in college, and that’s another story as well, and had 2 more years to play ball and attend classes before graduation…so that’s what I did.
Anyway, I graduated and began my coaching career while working property preparation for a company in town.
After 1 year of that I got a job at the school I was coaching baseball for…I got to teach Dropout Prevention English! Yes boys and girls I taught English for an entire year! DOH! Good thing it was Dropout Prevention!
Anyway, I then moved from DOP English to taking over the Anatomy/Physiology and Biology courses for the long time A&P teacher who was loved by everybody…you get the point.
I then moved to Chemistry and AP Biology and Biology while then also getting a Master’s Degree in Teaching and Learning. Now, I’d like to tell you that the ultimate reason for my obtaining this Master’s Degree was that I really wanted to pursue being the best possible classroom teacher I could be…but alas and alak that was NOT the ultimate reason. No, the ultimate reason was that I really wanted to be a college head baseball coach at some point in time and a Master’s degree is usually required for that position.
Interestingly enough God gave me the desire of my heart and I got to coach college baseball as an assistant in a local college for 3 years. Three of the most wonderful and worst years of my life! I’ll just let Allison explain that comment to you…
Now, don’t get me wrong…I LOVED LOVED LOVED teaching! And I took it seriously. And I pushed the kids academically and started the AP Biology program at my first school and really pushed that aspect of education…pushing kids in the area of college prep and academic rigor. I could have slacked off and just taught via worksheets, but it wasn’t in me to do that! So even though the ULTIMATE reason for my getting my Master’s degree wasn’t exactly noble, I did indeed, secondarily, wish to further myself as an educator.
Four years later (after my earning my Master’s degree in Teaching and Learning) and 2 schools later (again, a long and wonderful story that I can tell you at some point in time…just not today) I earned another Master’s degree!
Now, what kind of idiot must one be to earn 2 Master’s degrees? Well, you have to be a Pilliod, I suppose. This degree was in Educational Leadership. I’d already made the move from public schools to private schools…specifically private Christian schools…and there were opportunities to “advance” my career in education by working as an administrator, or at least use my leadership skills and training in the field of education that I loved…yes, I loved it!
Oh, and did I tell you that I left the college baseball coaching scene? Well, I did. I went from coaching college baseball to high school varsity. After that I coached J.V. After that I coached middle school baseball for 3 years and added football. After that I dropped baseball completely and my coaching career finished with coaching middle school football…go figure!
In the education field I ended up being the unofficial liaison between the high school staff and the administration. I even had an unofficial title of Assistant High School Principal and was over the high school discipline while teaching 6 out of 7 periods in the school day…it was busy!
Then on to Panama after a year of teaching online high school science…a wonderful experience itself where I did influence some students and even some educators…which was cool.
So what’s the point? Well…God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good!
I’m now in the perfect position for such a time as this!
I’m scheduled to teach 3 science classes, all at the highest levels, next year while supervising the online physics classes and promoting the online learning environment in my school (Master of Arts in Teaching and Learning).
Also, I’m working as the high school coordinator (like a high school Principal)…so I get to work with other high school teachers, with the school discipline plan, with accreditation, with other administrators, with new plans, with curriculum, etc. (Master of Education in Educational Leadership).
So God has been preparing me for such a long time for this time in history. I only got my first Master’s degree because of some silly idea of being a college baseball coach…He had better plans for me. I got my second Master’s degree in Ed. Leadership because, hey, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em! But again, God had better plans for me.
I have no idea what’s coming next. I sort of know the near future plan…I mentioned it above…but that can change at a moment’s notice as well. And what I have learned over the years, mostly the last 3 or 4, is to roll with the changes because God is in absolute control over everything! There is no such thing as coincidence. There is no such thing as accident. There is God’s divine sovereignty and God’s divine providence and God’s divine love. And who am I to make plans in permanent ink when it’s much better for me to make plans in pencil and let God erase them and nudge me to re-write them in pencil on a daily basis.
I’m rambling on (and on and on and on and on…), but I’ve had a great time tossing this out to you! My prayer is that you not only learned a little bit about me by this brief history of all things Pill, but that also if you are frustrated with circumstances from time to time, to just know that God is in control! Just like God had this day in mind when He created me and guided me to 2 Master’s degrees and moved me to this position where I’m actually using both of them simultaneously (which answers the question of what sort of idiot would get 2 Master’s degrees). And how might I be being currently prepared for something else in the future? Good question! I guess we’ll find out as we go, eh?
Soli Deo Gloria
PilliOddsAndEnds 