What a difference a week makes…

So this week is going down in the life of helen as the least fun week ever. Seriously. If you are a blog follower but not a Facebook friend then let me enlighten you.
To start with, I got sick. And I mean properly sick, not just I’ve got a cold and feel a bit sorry for myself sick. No, I went to bed feeling fine on Tuesday night, convinced that I would get up at a reasonable hour on Wednesday to go on a run. Well that plan was quickly changed by the fact that I did wake up early on Wednesday but at the insane early time of 1.45 am with only one thought: “I need to be sick. Now.”

And I thought that would be it. But no, time passed and at 6.30 am I was still throwing up. Fun. I then had to work 8 hours with the three that I nanny for (which actually turned out to be just one which was a dream and I spent the day throwing up/ sleeping). I couldn’t even keep water down. It was horrific. But thankfully it came on as soon as it left and so I thought the worst part of my week was over.

Or so I thought.

Then today, I got called into the head teacher’s office. Now whilst this is petrifying as a child, it’s just as scary as an adult. Yesterday the head told me that I was a bit too strict for their school (they have a very specific way of doing things) and I seemed stressed and I had 10 days to change and convince her otherwise. So off I went to school, relishing the challenge. However today things had changed over night and it had been decided that I would be let go today. Having never been fired before in my life, this feeling was totally new and with it came a whole load of insecurity flooding in. When you choose to leave a job you feel (rightly or wrongly) that you’re a bit more in charge of your own destiny. But today I worked my last day (unknowingly at the time), then went home and cried (and rang my mum). At the end of the most mentally exhausting week I couldn’t quite believe it had happened, but it had.

So there you are. In a week ive gone from healthy nursery school teacher to sickly and without a job. However, all is not a complete loss. I still have a few things much to be thankful for. I still have the girls that I nanny for who never fail to make me smile with their bluntness and wittiness. Their parents are very lovely and the flat where I live is very cute and a grand total of a 10 second walk from work. My church is still wonderful, still faithfully preaching the gospel week in week out and I’ve got my first ladies’ brunch is tomorrow. I’ve still got lovely dear friends in Paris and I’ve got wonderful friends in the uk and elsewhere who I’ve had the joy of keeping up with thanks to the amazing invention of Skype. My parents have always and will always be incredibly supportive and I’m so blessed and thankful to have them as my parents. I have my health back and I have the weekend to celebrate a dear friend’s birthday as well to study the bible with women from my church. These are precious blessings and privileges that cannot be taken away. And most of all, I have my salvation which can never be taken away, no matter what life throws away (or death for that matter). So as I enter into this time of unknown and not really knowing what to do I know I can trust God completely. As I learnt the news of being fired today my first thought was such relief in how good and gracious and sovereign my God is. My heart might ache with disappointment and it is a blow to my pride but as a great friend reminded me today, God cares so much about me that he uses everything to make me like his son, even firing.

So there you are. I’m looking forward to more time to run, Skype, write letters, having a normal amount of laundry to do, not having to clean up sick and wee every day and not having “the wheels on the bus/ un éléphant qui se balançait” mash up in my head every day)!. And I guess watch this space to see what happens next….

Until next time
Helen