HOW DID I KNOW THAT REAL ESTATE WAS WHAT I WAS SUPPOSED TO DO NEARLY 20 YEARS AGO?
I prayed. I was still. I listened and God spoke and showed me the way and the sign...LITERALLY!
Almost 20 years ago, I was a high school Spanish teacher and volleyball coach. You see, I knew at an early age that I was going to be a teacher. Of that, I had no doubt. I never dreamed of the route God would take me to get to where I needed to be right now!
It was a rainy day in Rowlett, Texas 18 years ago. I had started my normal morning routine with my Spanish I class that mainly consisted of high school freshmen and sophomores. I know...joy! After about 10 long minutes of saying, "Stop doing that! Be quiet! Leave her alone! Put that down! Sit down! Stop talking! Shhhhh!", an epiphany just hit me.
I sat down at my desk. Not one soul noticed I wasn't teaching and every student was just chatting away. I began writing my letter of resignation to my school. The entire 45 minutes went by without anyone saying anything! No one said, "Mrs. Allen, what's up? Why aren't you teaching? Are you ok?" They just sat there and talked and left when the bell rang.
It wasn't just this one day that did it. It had been every day for the last four years up to that day that had done it. I have had my hair torn out of my head, my thumb broken and my clothes torn from breaking up daily fights in hallways and at lunch. I had even had my life and my dogs' life threatened. On that one, I went to speak directly to the parents and told them their son had threatened my life and my dogs life. I said, "Your son told me he was going to shoot me and my dog today."
I'll never forget this...the father threw his head back and laughed heartily and said, "He won't shoot you! We took his gun away from him yesterday."
( Let me add here that teachers are completely underpaid for what they do everyday! I idolize the chosen few that are called to be a teachers. They are absolute heroes!)
So you see, it's been a process. But this particular rainy day, I was listening to my inner voice and I was done. I had never been more done with anything in my entire life. I had never been so sure and suddenly, I had never been happier! I skipped down to the principals office and turned in my letter of resignation. My last two weeks of school were the happiest I had ever had. The only reason I can tell you is that there was hope. I hadn't realized that I had been feeling so hopeless and trapped for the last four years.
I love to teach! But something wasn't right with where I was. So weeks before that, I had started praying for God to reveal what I couldn't see. That was my future. I didn't know that God was truly going to reveal to me a sign in the most literal of fashions! Oh how He works!
When you're a teacher, you get paid the same as the teacher across the hall that has the same amount of years experience. If you love to teach, which I did, you spend ALL your time creating, writing and providing an experience for your students so they can learn in the most meaningful way possible and so you'll make an absolute difference in this world. Or...you could be like the teacher across the hallway who hands out worksheets everyday and turns on a movie on Fridays. When all is said and done...you get paid the same!
I kept thinking how unfair this was! What could I do about it? Well, I stopped worrying and had my epiphany that fateful day and resigned. What now though? Oh my goodness. There were no jobs lined up. Nothing on the horizon for me. I've always wanted to teach but had never been more certain about anything else in my life that this was not how it should be. I wasn't going to be getting a paycheck next month! What do I do?
So I did what I had been doing for weeks. I prayed. I left school that cold rainy day and drove around the city. As I was driving, I prayed. I asked God to show me the way. Show me what I needed to do. Show me where I needed to go. Give me a sign. Any sign. And then it happened. A single ray of sunlight shone out of the sky and onto a 2 foot by 2 foot sign in front of me. I had probably passed that sign twice a day every day for years. But today, a single ray of sunshine was shining directly on it and it said, "Get your real estate license here."
With a tear and my eye and a quick point up to heaven to thank God for this "sign" I put my blinker on and turned right into the brokerage advertising classes, stopped the car, didn't hesitate to get out and walk right in. The broker was standing at the front desk and asked if she could help me. I smiled and happily and confidently said, "I was told to come here. I DO want to get my license."
As they say, "The Rest Is History!" Since then, I've been top listing agent, joined a builder team and racked up top sales, been plucked from sales to be a Fortune 500 National Sales Trainer, a national sales consultant, a brokerage owner, a published author and now... my own Real Estate School. Teaching! Can you believe it? I'm living my dream job! In every single change of jobs, God lead me there. Sometimes He spoke through a feeling, through a sign, through other people and in one instance (for another blog post) through a still small voice. But He spoke and He still speaks. He is speaking today, we're just too busy to listen.
If you are struggling about where you are in life...pray. Be still. Listen. God will speak. It may be TOTALLY off the rails where He wants you to go, but I can tell you the destination will be absolutely awesome!
If you are feeling led into Real Estate, you can allow me to help you. My new school, The Real Estate Business School of Salado not only helps you get your license, we help you learn how to use it. I teach my students what I had to learn through trial, error and embarrassment. You'll get the knowledge I never got so you be confident and successful right off the bat! Be blessed in whatever it is you do and make sure it is your calling. If it is, you'll love it. If it is not, pray.
Written by: Myka AllenJohnson
myka@trebssalado.com
