A Summer of Answered Prayers

The end of summer break is fast approaching and before we know it, students (including me) will be returning back to school. This is a good opportunity for me to reflect and give God glory for this summer’s answered prayers.

As the spring semester was wrapping up, I received an email from someone in the TCU Department of Communication Studies. In the email, they mentioned that they were looking for a writing tutor for their daughter. At first, I hesitated to believe the email was real. It felt like it came out of nowhere so I didn’t reply to it immediately. In the back of my mind, however, I started rationalizing the situation. Yes, the email came out of nowhere but it’s from a TCU faculty member via their TCU email. I re-read the email and thought, I will reach out and see what comes of it. So, I did.

The thing is that before the spring semester ended, I prayed asking that God show me job opportunities which would help me have more of a financial cushion. Because of summer break, there are less hours available at academic coaching job which means that I would be making less money. My graduate assistantship pays me throughout the summer but it’s the academic coaching job that helps financially put me in a good place.

Eventually, after exchanging emails and finding a time to meet, I made my way over to their office on campus. Once I was there, we started chatting and they mentioned that they looked on the English Department’s website where the graduate students (including me) have their pictures, a short bio, and a list of their areas of specialty, so they decided to reach out to me hoping to find a writing tutor for their daughter. We chatted about their daughter’s writing needs, and they also shared some of the writing their daughter had done in the past so that I could get a better understanding of where she needed support.

By the end of the conversation, I happily accepted the tutoring opportunity which would go through the entire summer. They were excited and so was I. I remember noticing that on their desk they had a calendar which had a scripture for every day of the year. They’re Christian. With this new knowledge, I looked at them and said, “I am a Christian and I prayed for an opportunity like this.” They replied, “I am a Christian too!” Soon after this, I began tutoring their daughter which has been a blast.

But God’s answered prayer doesn’t end here.

Around June, a colleague of mine messaged me and asked if I was interested in tutoring their friend’s daughter. I don’t know why they reached out to me specifically. I didn’t tell anyone but God and my husband that I was looking for more opportunities to make money, but I also thought that my prayer was answered with the opportunity I mentioned earlier. So, when I received this message, I was feeling overwhelmed with all of the responsibilities I already had on my plate. I ignored the message for as long as I could but I started thinking about how before the summer began, I prayed for opportunities to make more money. Maybe this will be as exciting as the tutoring I am already doing and it won’t feel like work.

Eventually, I replied to their message by asking to learn more about the opportunity. Soon, I was talking to their friend and next thing I knew, I signed up to tutor their daughter as well. As I hoped, this tutoring opportunity has been so fun and I love working with their daughter.

God’s answered prayer didn’t end there either.

Earlier in the spring semester, one of the offices on campus was looking for people who would be interested in leading a week-long, paid workshop that would be held in July. Those interested would come up with lesson plans and lead workshop on anything pertaining to writing. Me and another colleague signed up for the opportunity and soon, our workshop was open for registration alongside two other workshops led by colleagues in the department.

However, there was a catch. There had to be enough enrollees for the workshop to happen. So, there was a chance that this workshop would be cancelled.

By the time the end of June rolled around, we received an email from the people in charge of organizing this opportunity. In this email, we learned that the workshop I would be leading had enough students enrolled so it wasn’t going to get cancelled. Sadly, the other two workshops would get cancelled due to not meeting the minimum number of enrollees.

As I was preparing for this workshop, I came to the realization that this (again) was an answer to my prayer. The chances of the workshop being cancelled were high but I never worried about it getting cancelled. Something in me knew to trust God. I was able to lead the workshop with my colleague, meet some sweet kids, and just have a great time overall.

God’s answered prayer doesn’t end there either. When I agreed to the first tutoring opportunity, I was under the impression that I would only be tutoring through the summer but recently, I found out that they want to continue throughout the next academic year. My second tutoring job also wants to continue for as long as their daughter is in school.

I am so grateful for these opportunities. I have met many great kids, and I get to continue working with two great girls. These opportunities haven’t just helped me financially but they have brought me so much joy. Every time I tutor, I am reminded of how much I love talking about writing and working with others.

There is so much packed into this answered prayer and I give God glory for all of it.