When you know you can curl up in His promises

Column Post by Laura Hyers

I’m someone who likes to be comfortable. My default position on my couch or in bed is either sprawled out or curled up, and my poor husband has tried his best to adjust to sleeping with a starfish and/or a balled-up person. It’s just that I am happiest when I feel…well, comfortable.

But I am quick to stagnate when I’m comfortable, and I know this. I know that my routine, while good and healthy and important to my wellbeing (and my sanity), can become a crutch and I can routine myself into little circles and never do anything challenging or difficult or out-of-the-ordinary. I’m a creature of habit to the core of my being, and that by itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing. What is a bad thing is when I stay snuggled up deep in that habit and wave from my comfy spot at opportunities as they pass by.

I’m in the process of getting my teacher certification, but right now I teach preschool. I have incredible kids and some amazing coworkers, and my job is the definition of comfortable. I’ve been there for years, all the parents know me, and I feel like I’m good at what I do. But I didn’t endure years of school (or incur student loan debt) to work at the preschool. I did it because I wanted to teach.

And I still want to! But I’m so used to being sprawled out where I am that I don’t want to get a new job at a new place with new kids and a new age group and new duties and new rules and it’s all just new and I don’t know how I feel about it some days.

But other days, I can’t stop thinking about it. I am absolutely excited to dive into curriculum I’m passionate about, to try to convey that passion to my students and watch them learn and grow. I want to teach high school. Hold the groans, please, and yes, I know that you probably think I’m crazy—because my boss said exactly that when I told her I’d be leaving to teach in a few months. I know—like without-a-shadow-of-a-doubt know—that it’s going to be hard.

And that’s where the confusion sets in. Because I like being comfortable. I like being able to predict my course of action. That whole creature of habit thing? It doesn’t really apply here, not to big huge career changes and people thinking I’m straight up nuts. And that in itself makes me uncomfortable. I like people approving of me, and I like the smiles I get when I say that I’m a preschool teacher. Not a huge fan of the groans.

But what I (and you can) know, what I can rest sprawled out or curled up in, is the promise that God gave me my passions for a reason, and that He makes good on His promises. He’s a Creature (and Creator) of habit that way.

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Laura Hyers is a Tampa native, writer, and the newly wed wife of musician Caleb. She recently graduated from the University of South Florida with a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a concentration in literature and is currently teaching preschool. When not chasing a class of two-year-olds, Laura is writing and fighting fierce bouts of wanderlust. She loves music, reading, being near the ocean, and dreaming big over huge cups of coffee with her best friend Lakin. Laura blogs at http://littlebirdmarie.wordpress.com.

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