I’m writing this post with mixed emotions. A lot has happened over the last few weeks. It’s interesting to see how God works. Allow me to give a little background . . .

As many of you might be aware, back in April, my dad was in critical condition and was rushed via air ambulance to Colombia (the country). Uncertain about how things would turn out, I took time off work to head down there to be with my family. I’m not going to go into all the details about that in this post, but to make a very long story extremely short, the Lord worked some tremendous miracles and his recovery was faster than could be expected.

While in Colombia, one of my main duties was to help him with Physical Therapy. While he was in an induced coma, and when he came out of the coma, I was the one exercising him to help him regain his strength (he was virtually paralyzed). In the process, my mom, my aunt and I had a recurring conversation that went something like this – Them: You know Leslie, you would make a great Physical Therapist. Have you ever considered doing that? Me: Yes, I did. However, I knew that God wanted me to teach.

Fast Forward . . .

After a month of being in the Beautiful country of Colombia, I headed back home to Cedar Lake. When I arrived, there was a letter in our mailbox inviting me to apply to teach in the Physical Therapy program at Andrews University. If accepted, I would teach Anatomy, Neuroscience, Pathophysiology, in addition to being the Foundations Science Coordinator for the department.

When I read the letter, I was immediately dumbfounded. Why did I receive it? I do I have a Physical Therapy background. Would they even consider me to teach in the Doctor of Physical Therapy program? It just sounded crazy. But then my mind went back to the frequent discussions I had with my family in Colombia and I couldn’t help but think that God was working behind the scenes to do something amazing.

So I went ahead and submitted my application. . .

I’m going to skip over some details here (just so that this doesn’t end up being a novel), but just know that there were a lot of miracles that happened along the way. Here are a few of the highlights.

• I was advised to make a trip down to Andrews to meet with the chair of the department.
• I did so, and we had a nice conversation.
• I showed him my biology website and he was extremely impressed.
• If I didn’t make the trip down to Andrews, they wouldn’t have considered me for the position.
• After looking at what I was doing online, they decided to interview me.
• I came down for an interview, sat at the head of a conference table and was grilled (in a good way) by 8 faculty members
• At the end of the interview, I was the unanimous choice of the committee out of 30+ applicants (even physical therapists).
• I’m being hired as Associate Professor in the Physical Therapy Department of Andrews University. One of the top programs in the nation.

Why am I writing this blog post? For a number of reasons:

• Reason #1. To show the world that with God All things are possible. I’m living proof that God does not call the qualified. He Qualifies the called.
• Reason #2. To show the world that He is in complete control. There are too many things that happened in my situation that would seem “coincidental”, but aren’t. Why did I all of a sudden feel the urge to start recording videos and putting them on my website regularly in January? I had been at GLAA for over 4 years. But it happened at the right time. Having the experience with my dad also reinforced this fact in my mind.
• Reason #3. To update everyone on what’s happening in our lives.
• Reason #4. To send a message to all of my students, colleagues, friends and family at GLAA. That deserves it’s own section. So lets get into that now.

A Message to everyone at GLAA

Wow, where do I begin. I’ve been at GLAA for 5 years now, and it has been an awesome experience. Yes, it has it’s ups and downs, but the biggest “ups” involved being able to interact with all of you. You’ve taught us so much, and we will definitely miss you guys.

I wish that this happened sooner, so that we could say goodbye in person, as opposed to over the internet, and then broadcasting it on Facebook, lol. But hey, this is what we have for now, and we believe that everything happens for a reason.

We love you guys, and we WILL miss you guys. Thank you for everything!

To my Senior Class (since I would’ve been senior class sponsor this upcoming year) . . .

We’ve had some great times, and I look forward to hearing awesome things happening in your lives. You are going to be the leaders next year. Make me proud. No, forget that. Make GOD proud. He has so much in store for you that you can’t even imagine.

What will Marguerite (Mrs. Samuel) do?

For the last few years, Marguerite has been working on a Master’s Degree in Choral conducting during the summers. Starting in the fall, she will be able to work on finishing her degree throughout the year, which is great because she can get it over with. Who knows? It’s possible that we’ll have some little Marguerites and Leslies running around sometime in the near future. But don’t get to excited, that’s not happening quite yet

Everything is just falling in place, and we’re praising God for all that He’s doing in our lives.

Make sure to stay in touch. We’ll be on Facebook. Don’t forget about us. Send us messages every once in a while

We’ll make sure to visit once in a while.

LOVE YOU ALL!!

- Leslie Samuel

Our Facebook Pages

• Leslie Samuel’s Facebook
• Marguerite Samuel’s Facebook