Full Circle

I’ll never forget one November day in 1995. Grubby and exhausted from hours of cleaning other people’s houses, I stopped in at Red River College’s local campus to pick up my husband who was teaching an Accounting course there. He had recently lost his right arm in a farming accident, throwing our family into turmoil. I wondered what challenges this new life might press upon us. Would I be expected to increase my earnings to help support the family? How could I? After ten years of cleaning, I felt unqualified for anything else. The world around me had become computer-dependent while I lagged behind with my mop and dustpan.

While I waited in the hallway, the manager of the center, Irene Adams, breezed by.

“Hi, Terrie. Come see me before you leave. About some work.”

I watched her disappear into her office. Forget it, I thought. I am not interested in adding one more cleaning job to my list, especially one the size of this place. Please don’t make me do this, God.

I felt tempted to sneak out, but Irene caught me and called me into her office. To my surprise, it wasn’t a cleaner she sought but an evening clerk. Someone to handle the office from regular quitting time until evening classes began. The work would be cyclical and varied. The pay exceeded what I currently made. If I wanted, I could even take classes free of charge as long as they related to my position.

I spent the next four years at that job. The rusty hinges of my office skills received oiling as I got up to speed with computers. I took several courses toward an Office Administration certificate—all free of charge. My life’s trajectory had changed.

The leg-up Irene offered me that day enabled me to accept my next position at my church for ten years, followed by another decade at city hall before retiring in 2019. Recently, in one of those delicious twists, Red River College invited me back. Not as a janitor. Not as an office clerk. But as an instructor of Creative Writing, based on my seven published books and twelve years of writing this column—goals I could never have accomplished without those computer skills gained way back when.

Photo courtesy L. Driedger

I accepted the challenge, wondering how I could stretch what I’ve learned into eight 3-hour sessions. By the time we had three of those classes under our belts, I found myself trying to figure out what I must leave for a future course! I’m learning along with my students, and I hope I’m helping them “turn on the tap” as we increase our daily word counts each week. I trust they are gaining confidence and polishing skills. And I really hope they’re having as much fun as I am. In another interesting twist, one of my students is Red River’s evening office clerk—the job I held all those years ago.

Through it all, I appreciate so much more how God leads and provides through the hills and valleys of life. And how following that lead can sometimes take us full circle in the most astonishing and delightful ways.

Psalm 37:23-24: “The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.”