History Lesson

When I tell people of my plan to attend Le Cordon Bleu, the question that naturally follows is, “What are you going to do when you get back?”  “Get a job… in the food industry,” may sound like a sarcastic reply, but it’s about the most complete answer that I can give (maybe I could change “the food industry” into “haute cuisine,” but I wouldn't want to sound stuffy).  Not receiving a more specific response bothers some people, and I can understand their concern to an extent – why would I invest so much money and time into something with no clear goal in mind?

Following my answer with, “I just know that this is what the Lord wants me to do, and I’ll let Him handle the details,” also raises a few eyebrows because “walking by faith” and “acting carelessly” can look eerily similar.  This way of living has worked fairly well for me in the past, though, and the more that I remind myself of how God has never failed me before, the easier each step of faith becomes.  Sadly, that’s not to say that every decision that I ever made came about through a lot of prayer and faith, but that’s what makes the Christian walk so amazing – God remains faithful in spite of my frequently foolish or thoughtless actions.

My major during my freshman and sophomore years at Bob Jones University was Print Journalism.  Like most teenagers, I chose my major because it sounded like fun and it seemed like something that I could do.  At some point before the start of my junior year, I decided that Print Journalism wasn't very practical so I switched to something even less practical: French.  As part of my first degree requirements I already had two years of French, plus it’s a cool language – flawless reasoning.

[True story: One sunny day my sophomore year as I sat outside the library studying, one of my French professors, Monsieur Loach, hid in the bushes behind me and said in a ghostly voice, “Kerry Kendall!  Go to Bob Jones and major in French!” That was not the deciding factor… I think.]

As graduation approached it became clear that I had no idea of what I was going to do with a French degree.  The summer following graduation I worked at Camp Ironwood and returned home to work retail until the day after Thanksgiving when I visited Worldwide Tentmakers to inquire about a job overseas – any job overseas (aside from a love of French I had a serious travel bug).

Logos School of English Education in Cyprus had just contacted the office asking if they had anyone who could come teach high school science for the rest of the school year after one of their teachers took a sudden leave.   My response was, “Where is Cyprus?  Isn't that Greek or something*?” followed by, “Sure, why not?”  Less than two months later I was on my way.

[*Greek is a primary language in Cyprus, but it is an actual country and not a part of Greece.  Don't pretend like you already knew that.]

Cyprus was probably one of the best experiences in my life.  I was homesick most days and wrote a lot of distressing letters to friends and family bemoaning this fact, but those six months grew me in more ways than I can measure.  Coming out of my protective shell, learning to live with and among people who weren't exactly like me, building amazing friendships, dealing with new and unexpected obstacles – I felt as if I had matured about ten years by the time that I returned home.

Teaching science, however, was definitely not my “thing."  Because my last science course was tenth-grade Biology, with the help of a sort of Science for Dummies book I was barely keeping up with my students except for a few annoyingly smart ones who were way beyond me.  Thinking that maybe teaching something that I understood, such as math, might work with a little more training, I went back to Bob Jones after the school year ended and started working on a master’s degree in secondary mathematics education.

Graduation was once again upon me and I was once again at a loss for what to do.  Harvest Christian Academy in Guam was offering me a three-year contract but I didn't have any peace about signing it (any commitment beyond a year makes my tongue go numb), yet I had no other prospects.

Running on the track the evening before Harvest was going to call me for my decision, I fell into a conversation with a fellow student who also happened to be the brother of the president of Northland Baptist Bible College (now Northland International University).  He asked about my graduation plans and mentioned that he knew of a position available at the school for a math teacher, and I expressed an interest in the job.

The next evening when Harvest called to ask for my decision, I turned them down.  Not five seconds after I had hung up the phone, it rang again and Sam Horn was on the other end inviting me to come up to Northland for an interview.  I went, they made me an offer, and that summer I moved to Wisconsin to begin my new career as a math and, as a bonus, French professor.

While my time at Northland lasted only two years, it was instrumental in my development as well.  I made several wonderful relationships (including one of my now best friends), I was able to spend a summer in language school in Nice, France, I learned how to drive on ice, and I realized that I was not cut out to be a teacher.  That last revelation scared me nearly to death because in my mind, on top of a bachelor’s degree that I no longer needed I had an equally useless master’s degree and not a clue about what to do next.

Apparently my go-to solution during these crises is “more school.”  I figured that something concentrated in statistics could get my foot into the business world, and on a whim I filled out an application to graduate school at Clemson University although I was sure that I didn't have the proper math credits to get accepted.  As it turned out, I had just enough to make a two-year degree possible, and I was soon on my way back to Greenville to work on a master’s degree in mathematical sciences.

Not surprisingly, another graduation suddenly loomed ahead with absolutely no job prospects – I was beyond broke with several credit cards maxed out by this time and had not had a single interview except with a temp agency.  Admittedly, applying for jobs probably would have increased my odds of landing an interview, but at 29 years of age I had no experience in creating a business resume and no ideas about what sort of work I should be seeking.  Until now jobs had just sort of fallen into my lap.

While working on my final thesis with my advisor, I had mentioned to him that I hoped to stay in Greenville after graduation.  A few weeks later he summoned me to his office to tell me that a recruiter had called him and asked if he had any graduating students interested in living in the Greenville area for a data analyst position.  My advisor thought to check with me first before opening up the offer to the rest of the students.  I jumped on the opportunity, had one interview, graduated on a Saturday, and started my job the following Monday.  I was so green that about six months passed before I even knew what Resurgent Capital Services did, but eleven years later I can honestly say that I think I finally got the hang of it.

This little history lesson is not meant to suggest that looking for work or having a plan is unwise, but occasionally we don't even know how to plan or what to expect, or reality takes a totally different turn from our expectations.  When we filled out surveys our senior year of high school asking where we saw ourselves in ten years, I wrote some typical response like, “Married with 8 kids and working on an llama farm in New Zealand,” but not one single aforementioned event was included in my answer.  Had I answered that same question again ten years later, it still would have been completely wrong (I would have left out the husband and kids part, though).  Ask me where I see myself in just one year from now and, “Who knows?” will be the closest that I can get to a correct answer.

[Okay, sometimes I reply, “Working at Epcot’s Chefs de France,” but that’s mostly because I want the discount Disney family passes and an opportunity to regain my Aunt of the Year title… and it’s the happiest place on earth.]

If you could peek ahead about nine months into the future, you would likely find me once again facing the end of my schooling (assuming that I had passed the basic and intermediate levels) with very little money and no idea of what my next step will be, but my hope is that you would also see me completely at peace with the knowledge that God already knows.  The best part of this journey is that whatever He has planned for me, it will be far better than whatever my limited little mind could imagine.

I have nine months to study both cuisine and pastry under some of the finest chefs in the most famous culinary school in the world – why would I waste time worrying about what March 2015 will bring?  Rather than trying to skip to the end of the story, I want to work my way through it, enjoying each moment of discovery along the way until the final chapter draws everything to a conclusion.

 “Therefore I say unto you, ‘Take no thought for your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor yet for your body, what you shall put on.’  Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?   Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much better than they?  Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?  And why take you thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?  Therefore take no thought, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or, ‘What shall we drink?’ or, ‘Wherewithal shall we be clothed?’ (for after all these things do the Gentiles seek) for your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things.  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:25-33)