Nine years ago...

 Happy Feast Day of St. Francis De Sales! During GIFT this afternoon, I tried to recall the below quote from this saint:

“Be who you are and be that well. So that you may bring honor to the Master Craftsman whose handiwork you are.”

Loosely paraphrasing the quote, I shared how appreciative I felt for today, for yesterday, and for all that has led to where I am today!

Nine years ago on this day, I (successfully) defended my dissertation. You can see pictures and read more about that momentous occasion here. What a joyful day of celebration 01/24/2014 was! It's hard to believe that what I worked so hard for and has brought me to where I am today is already nine years ago.

I hope that over the last 10+ years of working in higher education, I've been able to be who I am....simply put...a teacher! 2023 marks my 21st year of being a teacher since graduating with my undergraduate degree in education. Half of those years were spent primarily teaching school-aged kiddos and the other half spent teaching in the higher education level...then throw in the last almost seven years of being a teaching mother for Charlotte Annie.

Be who you are and be that well.

St. Francis De Sales didn't say to be who someone else is and to copy.

He did not say to be who someone wants you to be or who society thinks you should be.

He said to be who God has created us to be. He said to put every effort into being the best version of ourselves possible. He said to do all these things not for our own self-worth but to point, ultimately, to God as our Creator.

If today is the ninth anniversary of achieving a professional milestone, yesterday is the ninth anniversary of Adam whispering in my ear, "I'm all in," as I hugged him goodbye after taking him back to the airport to fly from North Carolina back to California at the end of the first visit he made to see me. Be who you and be it well....be all in...every moment of every day.

* For more about the memories from our early days of courtship around the phrase of Adam saying, "I'm all in", you can learn more here. <3