I Passed!

Celebration time! I passed my School Leadership Praxis exam! I know I haven't blogged abut this, but this is something I added to my "to do" list this summer. :-) I took the test on June 11th, and I have been waiting for 4 weeks to find out if I passed or not. Because there is always a story behind everything, I must share this...

I actually finished my graduate work in Educational Leadership almost 8 years ago! I gave birth to my first child 3 months before I finished! Thanks be to God for his birth and my finishing graduate school that year. To complete my licensure, though, I was supposed to sign up for and pass the Praxis exam for School Leadership. I had just had a baby and was really just beginning my career in education, so I put off taking the exam. After all, I had no immediate plans to go into administration. What I didn't know at the time was that God's immediate plans for me would be that I would spend the next 5 years teaching and giving birth to 2 more children. The School Leadership Praxis exam was the furthest thing from my mind, as you can imagine.

But in March of this year, that all changed when I recieved an email stating that this Praxis version would "phase out" in June 2011. I panicked! Oh  no! I could have kicked myself for procrastinating, whether intentionally or not. I signed up THAT SAME DAY to take the exam at the University of Memphis. I spent the next 2 months catapulted into a frenzy of events that didn't really allow me ample time to study or refresh myself on the coursework I had completed almost 8 years ago! Before I knew it, there were just a couple of weeks left before my scheduled exam. Even my husband doubted my time put in to preparing, and warned me that I was probably setting myself up for the possiblity of having to take the test again. I was so consumed...I prayed that God would just show me a little mercy on the test. I specifically prayed that He would grant me a clear mind and that He would guide my thoughts and answers. And if it were His will, that I would pass the first time. The week before the test, and while leading the music at VBS at church, I used every "spare minute" a mom of three small children could find to study. Saturday, June 11th arrived, I left my house at 6:00 a.m., set my sights on the U of M, and hoped for the best. The testing period was approx. 4 hours (2 timed sections), and I was mentally tired after I finished. I drove home in the quiet car praying that I had passed just so I wouldn't have to go through that again! Then the waiting began...4 weeks I would wait to know the results.

Yesterday, for the first time in 4 weeks, I checked the website to see if the results had been posted, but they hadn't. I read where the approx. posting date was July 12, 2011, (the next day!) Problem was that I would have no internet connection during the day until the serviceman came...sometime between 1:00 and 5:00! Why not wait a little longer, right? He showed up at 4:00, got the internet up and going, and AS SOON AS I LOCKED THE DOOR BEHIND HIM, I took off to the computer! Draggin' Mary Claire behind me and saying, "Come on, Mary Claire! Cross your fingers. Let's see if Mommy passed her test." She didn't have a clue what I was talking about as I logged onto the computer, but I made it sound exciting, and the excitement was contagious. I will never forget the look on her face as I screamed and started jumping up and down when I saw my passing score. She thought it was too funny! And it probably was funny to witness her mother jumping up and down in pure delight. The boys heard the racket and came running into the room asking, "What's the matter, Momma?" I continued to jump and say, "I passed my test, I passed my test!" And they smiled at the sight. John Owen was so sweet to come over at that point and hug me. It's funny how his hug said it all, "I am happy for you, Momma." They had no idea what this meant, but they knew it meant something special to me. And we all enjoyed the moment.

So, one more thing checked off my "to do" list, I guess. I believe God has a way of preparing us for where He wants us to be, and I can't help but wonder where He'll lead me with this in the future. One thing is for sure.. it feels GOOD knowing that I have this DONE! What a relief! I passed! Now, what will I do to celebrate?