Christ the King has been a home to my family from the first weekend we moved here from upstate New York to the present. We decided to attend CTK for Mass our first weekend here in Kentucky because it was closest to our apartment, and it was a Cathedral - something we did not have at home. Since that first Mass and our first Oktoberfest, we have found a loving, caring, and faith-filled community that has catered to our spiritual needs and welcomed these Yankees from the North.
At the time we moved here, I was looking for a teaching job, and Maria, my wife, was in graduate school. Finding a teaching job was a tough prospect since the school year had already started. I decided for the time being that I would sub anywhere I could just to stay in a classroom, even if it wasn’t my own. Through a series of what had to be Spirit-filled connections, we came in contact with Ms. Kathy Leonard, our CKS science teacher, who was then also in charge of substitutes. Learning I was a certified teacher, she encouraged me to apply for sub work at Christ the King. So I did what anyone looking for work would do: I put on my suit and went to talk to then-principal Karen McNay.
What started as a hope just to be added to the sub rotation miraculously turned into an interview for a job! I was shocked and ecstatic at the same time. I was not expecting this, and had no time to prepare. Over the course of three interviews, a botched sample lesson, and Mrs. Kelley Taylor enthusiastically agreeing to switch from social studies to sixth grade language arts and religion, I was offered the job and became the social studies teacher here at CKS.
I know the Holy Spirit was responsible for this whole process, beginning with that first weekend in Kentucky. Everything led to the moment when I would be able to fulfill my dream of being a teacher. I had my own idea of what that would look like; the Holy Spirit knew better and arranged so many things in my life to lead to this eventual destination. We all have our own ideas of what the future should be, but we need to slow down and see what is being done for us. Sometimes the obvious is just that: obvious.
Since being hired here at CKS in 2011, I have been blessed with a successful career and two beautiful boys, Lincoln and Maximilian, both of whom were baptized here by Fr. Gino. I have been to many Confirmations, Oktoberfests, Masses, and everything in between. This is home. This is the place where Lincoln goes to school in his PreK3 classroom, which he thoroughly enjoys and which has helped him grow and be more curious about the world around him. This is the place I hope will continue to be a home for my family as long as we are here in Kentucky. Ultimately, I hope my boys will call this place home as well. What more could a father want, than to have his sons grow up in a loving community that has Christ at its center in all that it does?
Andrew Dombrowski
6th-8th Grade Social Studies Teacher
