Things are falling into place, slowly but surely, for my return into the great 7th grade adventure this year! Stuart's parents are coming next week to keep the children at my house on Tuesday- Friday while I attend inservices for new teachers. Then, Arden's mother's day out teacher from last year who is also a friend of mine volunteered to keep the kids the following week from Monday through Thursday at my house. A good neighbor Laurie is going to watch the boys at her house the final two days on August 17 and 18 while Arden starts at her full-time childcare. I feel good having a plan in place for the children, and I'm glad that they can be in their own home with their own surroundings (especially for Arden) for two weeks.
God also provided a spot for Arden at a well-reputed childcare center in Bentonville called Pine Crest Private School. It is right in front of the boys' elementary school campus, so I will be able to drop off and pick up in one place. Arden got the only spot open in her age group! Many places I called had waiting lists up to one year long, and Pine Crest initially told me they had a waiting list too. God opened up a spot, and I think it will be the best place I can find with one week's notice. I'm praying that Arden adjusts well to her new school and teachers and doesn't have any behavioral changes.
I did my final "hiring" interview with Bentonville Schools yesterday and met with the director of human resources. He approved my hiring and sent me on to do paperwork. I did all the tax forms, verification of experience, intent to hire form, and got information on benefits. Stuart was able to take a half day off work for me to go to the district office plus get my fingerprinting done at the sheriff's office. The school board will vote and approve all new hires on August 17, so then I will sign an "official" contract on August 18 and pick up my first paycheck! Yea!
I resigned from my online teaching job yesterday after I passed the final interview. That will give the college two weeks to reassign my sections to other instructors which I don't think will be too difficult since only one section is currently full, so they might not even need to keep all of them on the schedule. It was a little bittersweet to relinquish this online job since it has been such a blessing to work from home for six years, but I think God provided just the right time to change jobs since it appears that the economic slowdown is finally trickling down to the community college. My enrollment was low this semester which, in turn, dictates how many sections I would be able to teach any given semester. At least with secondary education in Bentonville, it is not affected as much by the economy since it is mandatory public education in the fastest growing school district in the state. If I do a good job for the district, I should not have to worry about job security.
I'm anxious to get into a classroom and start unpacking. I have twelve boxes of materials and files in my attic from my P.A. days, and I'm ready to go through them. I'm sure I will be spending several nights and weekends up at the school in the next few weeks trying to get a room ready for the first day with students on the 19th. I don't like feeling in limbo, so I will be glad when I'm "unpacked" and have some idea of what I will be teaching during the first few weeks. I will meet with the English department on August 10-11 for curriculum and should get my textbooks and have a much better idea of where to start.
Tomorrow is the boys' birthday party, and it will be just a small gathering at our neighborhood pool since we don't know many people in town yet. Several friends were not able to come and were traveling. The boys picked a "Cars" theme from the Disney movie, and we ordered a cake from Sam's Club and picked it up today. I'm glad we are having a simple, outdoor party, so I don't have to worry about my house!
I'm finally sleeping normally again after the whirlwind of stress and excitement with this job change. I feel relatively calm and more excited than nervous. I know it will take a month or so to even get my bearings and feel like I have some sort of rhythm, but I know I can do the job once I figure out the curriculum and have some time to plan.
God's timing is perfect. It wasn't what I envisoned for this year, but He has a purpose in my assignment. I love teaching and always looked forward to returning to the classroom. I hope I can be used positively to reach many students this year!
Friday, July 31, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
A Sign
On July 7, my world began to change. After six years at home full-time, I had begun to feel a stirring in me to teach in the classroom again. Hudson would be starting kindergarten, so Arden would be my only child at home. Financial stress had driven my inital thoughts of how to make more money. We had spent a lot of money on the move to northwest Arkansas, exterior drainage issues in our yard, and unexpected car repairs which eventually left us with needing to abandon our ten year old vehicle in June and buy a new car last month. Financial stress loomed heavily as I had also found out that my part-time job had capped the maximum number of courses that I would be able to teach, plus enrollment was low in my existing online sections for the fall semester. I randomly had the urge to check the teaching openings for the Bentonville School District website, and I saw it. There was an opening for a 9th grade English teacher at the high school. The opening was posted on 7/7/09 -- the same day that I randomly felt the urge to check.
I applied for the position which was very involved. It required typed essays, work verification from my former employers, and eight letters of recommendation. Fortunately, my secondary teachers' license was recently renewed and valid. However, my excitement was short-lived as I found out from a friend of mine who teaches in the high school that the position was filled internally from a transfer of another district teacher. I felt that God's will had been made clear, and I began to focus on my online curriculum to prepare for the fall.
The very next day, on Wednesday, July 22, I got an unexpected call to interview for an English teaching position at Washington Junior High in Bentonville. This was a 7th grade opening whose vacancy was from a transfer to the high school (the exact position that I had previously applied for!). I interviewed on Friday, July 24, and I met with the principal and three other faculty members.
The interview went extremely well and lasted well over an hour. I had been very nervous until I pulled into the parking lot, and then I felt a rush of calm and peace come over me. I felt that I was completely myself in the interview, and I really liked the principal. However, I was panicked in the final few minutes of the interview when I was told that 1 of the sections for the position was ESL (English as a Second Language) to a group of non-English speaking students. I have never taught ESL, so that was a bit stressful to consider doing that with no experience. Then, I also found out that the start date was Tuesday, August 4, which was almost a full week earlier than I had expected. I didn't realize that there were additional days of training for new hires over the regular inservice days for returning teachers. My concern was childcare for all of those days since it meant I would have just over a week to pull all this together.
I wrestled with the pros and cons of the job all weekend. I had been told that a decision would be made on Monday, July 27. We went to dinner at a friend's house on Saturday night, and I was discussing the interview with her and my fear over the ESL class and the early start date. She jokingly said, "Wouldn't it be great if the principal changed the schedule and got rid of that ESL class?" I agreed and thought that would make the job so much more comfortable for me. I prayed all weekend that God would close the door if I shouldn't go down that path. I was fine with the district hiring someone else; I just didn't want to accept a job that would be a mistake.
Like Gideon, I wanted a sign. I wanted a fleece that would show me what to do -- a clear sign from God that I was in His will. I prayed that I could sort out my stress because I couldn't tell if the stress I felt was due to the fast pace of the situation and the normal stress of change, or it was an indication that I was making a mistake.
The phone rang on Sunday night. I expected it to be a relative, so I casually answered. It was the principal from the junior high. She expressed how excited they would be to offer me the position as an English teacher at their school. I was the committee's first choice. I knew that I still had a couple of questions about the ESL assignment that I had thought of after I left the interview, so I asked the principal if I could ask a few more things about that section. She laughed and said she had changed my schedule, and that I would not have to teach ESL. My schedule would be three sections of 7th grade English.
A sign -- I had prayed for a sign. I had laughed the night before about how great it would be if God sent me a sign by having the principal change the schedule and eliminate the ESL class. This was my fleece.
I felt a complete peace about the situation. God was in this. He had arranged for me to get the job. It wasn't some mistake that I had created.
So, I accepted the position. I start next week, and students arrive on August 19.
Now, this isn't to say that I'm not having stress! It is still a lot of stress having to arrange two weeks' worth of childcare and find a full-time placement for Arden with only one week's notice! I don't "fly by the seat of my pants" very well! However, now I know that it is going to work out. I know that I can do this job well and that it is a good fit for me. This is God's plan for me and my family.
God gave me a sign.
I applied for the position which was very involved. It required typed essays, work verification from my former employers, and eight letters of recommendation. Fortunately, my secondary teachers' license was recently renewed and valid. However, my excitement was short-lived as I found out from a friend of mine who teaches in the high school that the position was filled internally from a transfer of another district teacher. I felt that God's will had been made clear, and I began to focus on my online curriculum to prepare for the fall.
The very next day, on Wednesday, July 22, I got an unexpected call to interview for an English teaching position at Washington Junior High in Bentonville. This was a 7th grade opening whose vacancy was from a transfer to the high school (the exact position that I had previously applied for!). I interviewed on Friday, July 24, and I met with the principal and three other faculty members.
The interview went extremely well and lasted well over an hour. I had been very nervous until I pulled into the parking lot, and then I felt a rush of calm and peace come over me. I felt that I was completely myself in the interview, and I really liked the principal. However, I was panicked in the final few minutes of the interview when I was told that 1 of the sections for the position was ESL (English as a Second Language) to a group of non-English speaking students. I have never taught ESL, so that was a bit stressful to consider doing that with no experience. Then, I also found out that the start date was Tuesday, August 4, which was almost a full week earlier than I had expected. I didn't realize that there were additional days of training for new hires over the regular inservice days for returning teachers. My concern was childcare for all of those days since it meant I would have just over a week to pull all this together.
I wrestled with the pros and cons of the job all weekend. I had been told that a decision would be made on Monday, July 27. We went to dinner at a friend's house on Saturday night, and I was discussing the interview with her and my fear over the ESL class and the early start date. She jokingly said, "Wouldn't it be great if the principal changed the schedule and got rid of that ESL class?" I agreed and thought that would make the job so much more comfortable for me. I prayed all weekend that God would close the door if I shouldn't go down that path. I was fine with the district hiring someone else; I just didn't want to accept a job that would be a mistake.
Like Gideon, I wanted a sign. I wanted a fleece that would show me what to do -- a clear sign from God that I was in His will. I prayed that I could sort out my stress because I couldn't tell if the stress I felt was due to the fast pace of the situation and the normal stress of change, or it was an indication that I was making a mistake.
The phone rang on Sunday night. I expected it to be a relative, so I casually answered. It was the principal from the junior high. She expressed how excited they would be to offer me the position as an English teacher at their school. I was the committee's first choice. I knew that I still had a couple of questions about the ESL assignment that I had thought of after I left the interview, so I asked the principal if I could ask a few more things about that section. She laughed and said she had changed my schedule, and that I would not have to teach ESL. My schedule would be three sections of 7th grade English.
A sign -- I had prayed for a sign. I had laughed the night before about how great it would be if God sent me a sign by having the principal change the schedule and eliminate the ESL class. This was my fleece.
I felt a complete peace about the situation. God was in this. He had arranged for me to get the job. It wasn't some mistake that I had created.
So, I accepted the position. I start next week, and students arrive on August 19.
Now, this isn't to say that I'm not having stress! It is still a lot of stress having to arrange two weeks' worth of childcare and find a full-time placement for Arden with only one week's notice! I don't "fly by the seat of my pants" very well! However, now I know that it is going to work out. I know that I can do this job well and that it is a good fit for me. This is God's plan for me and my family.
God gave me a sign.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Habla Espanol?
Yesterday, I asked Hudson to count to 20 out loud again, as we have been practicing certain skills for kindergarten readiness. He can actually almost make it to 100!
He looked as me very seriously, and he asked, "Do you want me to do it in English or Spanish?"
He looked as me very seriously, and he asked, "Do you want me to do it in English or Spanish?"
Friday, July 24, 2009
The Interview
Well, I survived my first interview in over 6 years! It was very nervewracking, and I'm glad I only had 36 hours to wait from the time they called me because I haven't slept well since then with all the anticipation.
So, how did it go, you might be wondering. Honestly, I think it went well, and I thought that all of the four interviewers seemed to connect well with me and gave positive comments and had postive facial expressions and body language. We laughed a lot, and I felt that I was relaxed and myself. So, I probably wouldn't change anything about how I performed in the interview. Basically, they had a sheet of established questions and went around in a circle and each asked me one. Only a couple of them were ones that I didn't immediately know what to say (What has been your biggest failure in the past three years? What text or professional literature has impacted your teaching style the most?).
I loved the principal. Loved her! She would be a dream personality to work with, and I felt she was so approachable, funny, and laid back. She was not intimidating at all. She obviously wants faculty to approach her easily and bring her any concerns. I felt like she would be supportive and give me lots of help. I also really liked the two other English teachers in the meeting, and they both reminded me of others I have worked with before. I think we would get along well. There was a fourth man in the interview that I couldn't really read as well. He was an ESL/reading specialist, so I didn't really connect with his questions quite as much because that isn't my area of expertise. He also left early to go to another meeting, so I didn't get to know him as well.
The interview was over 1 hour long. I brought in samples of previous projects I have done with students along with some photos from my scrapbook of my former students while they were working on one of the projects and the finished results. The other teachers seemed to like that, and I think they got an accurate picture of who I am and my teaching strengths.
However, I got sort of panicked at the end of the interview when I found out some more information about the teaching assignment and the starting date. I was originally told it was for a 7th grade position, and it turns out that those two classes are pre-AP, so I was thrilled about teaching honors level again. However, they didn't mention until the very end of the interview (as in "By the way . . . we'd better tell you . . . ") that the third class is 8th grade English ESL!!! What?? I'm not ESL (English as a Second Language) certified. They want me to teach a class of non-English speakers? I have no idea where to start with that. These kids are going to be using Rosetta Stone curriculum. The up side is that there will only be 8 kids in that class because it is ESL. The principal said that with the late notice of this job becoming open, there is no way any of their applicants will be ESL trained, so they will just make do for this year, and then they will try to reassign sections for next year and get a real ESL teacher to take that section. However, for this year, they will have to use a regular English teacher who will get some team-teaching support from another ESL teacher in the building. I was a little blindsided by that one. My ESL experience consists of teaching about five foreign exchange students during my eight years at Pulaski Academy, but they were all super motivated students who didn't sleep and stayed up all night translating my novels into Chinese (seriously!).
The positive thing is that this job only has 3 classes (2 pre-AP 7th grade English and 1 section ESL 8th grade English) and a total of 58 students. No one ever has 58 students in secondary school at the full-time level! The grading should be very managable, which would be a good thing since I'll probably have to learn Spanish! ha!
The other stress factor that got dropped on me in the last 5 minutes of the interview is that the starting date is AUGUST 3, as in 1 week from now! What! School begins on August 19, and I knew that teachers had to report on August 12 for inservices. However, what I didn't know is that ALL new teachers to this district have to report a full week earlier than returning teachers in order to go through "new teacher orientation" with the district. Now, that wouldn't be a problem except for the small issue of Owen, Hudson, and Arden. I have no idea what I will do with my children for two weeks until they can start school and daycare. Plus, I will only have 6 days to figure it out! That is a stress.
So, how do I feel right now? Overwhelmed.
Would I like the job? Probably.
Would I take the job? Probably.
I honestly think that I underestimated how much work it would be to return to the classroom in a public school. I'm rusty on all the benchmarks, assessments, and all the state requirements for teachers that I didn't have to worry about while I've been off teaching in private schools and at the college level for the past 14 years.
I think I would LOVE this job after the first year. I think the first year will kill me!
It's a steep learning curve with a lot of information to process and only 1 week to pull it all together. Combine that with worrying about my three children, and I don't know if I can do it.
I do think that after I got adjusted to the schedule, and after I got through a year of lesson plans, this would be a pretty easy job in the second and subsequent years (only 58 students, remember??). That is, if I live through the first year.
So, the principal said they will finish interviewing today and check references over the weekend. They will make a decision and call on Monday due to the start date of August 3. There are at least three people being interviewed as I know they mentioned another male teacher, and there was another woman waiting in the lobby after I came out from my interview. Who knows, maybe one of them speaks Spanish, so they will be the better candidate.
We'll see what happens. I don't even know what I want to happen! I need God to give me some very clear direction.
So, how did it go, you might be wondering. Honestly, I think it went well, and I thought that all of the four interviewers seemed to connect well with me and gave positive comments and had postive facial expressions and body language. We laughed a lot, and I felt that I was relaxed and myself. So, I probably wouldn't change anything about how I performed in the interview. Basically, they had a sheet of established questions and went around in a circle and each asked me one. Only a couple of them were ones that I didn't immediately know what to say (What has been your biggest failure in the past three years? What text or professional literature has impacted your teaching style the most?).
I loved the principal. Loved her! She would be a dream personality to work with, and I felt she was so approachable, funny, and laid back. She was not intimidating at all. She obviously wants faculty to approach her easily and bring her any concerns. I felt like she would be supportive and give me lots of help. I also really liked the two other English teachers in the meeting, and they both reminded me of others I have worked with before. I think we would get along well. There was a fourth man in the interview that I couldn't really read as well. He was an ESL/reading specialist, so I didn't really connect with his questions quite as much because that isn't my area of expertise. He also left early to go to another meeting, so I didn't get to know him as well.
The interview was over 1 hour long. I brought in samples of previous projects I have done with students along with some photos from my scrapbook of my former students while they were working on one of the projects and the finished results. The other teachers seemed to like that, and I think they got an accurate picture of who I am and my teaching strengths.
However, I got sort of panicked at the end of the interview when I found out some more information about the teaching assignment and the starting date. I was originally told it was for a 7th grade position, and it turns out that those two classes are pre-AP, so I was thrilled about teaching honors level again. However, they didn't mention until the very end of the interview (as in "By the way . . . we'd better tell you . . . ") that the third class is 8th grade English ESL!!! What?? I'm not ESL (English as a Second Language) certified. They want me to teach a class of non-English speakers? I have no idea where to start with that. These kids are going to be using Rosetta Stone curriculum. The up side is that there will only be 8 kids in that class because it is ESL. The principal said that with the late notice of this job becoming open, there is no way any of their applicants will be ESL trained, so they will just make do for this year, and then they will try to reassign sections for next year and get a real ESL teacher to take that section. However, for this year, they will have to use a regular English teacher who will get some team-teaching support from another ESL teacher in the building. I was a little blindsided by that one. My ESL experience consists of teaching about five foreign exchange students during my eight years at Pulaski Academy, but they were all super motivated students who didn't sleep and stayed up all night translating my novels into Chinese (seriously!).
The positive thing is that this job only has 3 classes (2 pre-AP 7th grade English and 1 section ESL 8th grade English) and a total of 58 students. No one ever has 58 students in secondary school at the full-time level! The grading should be very managable, which would be a good thing since I'll probably have to learn Spanish! ha!
The other stress factor that got dropped on me in the last 5 minutes of the interview is that the starting date is AUGUST 3, as in 1 week from now! What! School begins on August 19, and I knew that teachers had to report on August 12 for inservices. However, what I didn't know is that ALL new teachers to this district have to report a full week earlier than returning teachers in order to go through "new teacher orientation" with the district. Now, that wouldn't be a problem except for the small issue of Owen, Hudson, and Arden. I have no idea what I will do with my children for two weeks until they can start school and daycare. Plus, I will only have 6 days to figure it out! That is a stress.
So, how do I feel right now? Overwhelmed.
Would I like the job? Probably.
Would I take the job? Probably.
I honestly think that I underestimated how much work it would be to return to the classroom in a public school. I'm rusty on all the benchmarks, assessments, and all the state requirements for teachers that I didn't have to worry about while I've been off teaching in private schools and at the college level for the past 14 years.
I think I would LOVE this job after the first year. I think the first year will kill me!
It's a steep learning curve with a lot of information to process and only 1 week to pull it all together. Combine that with worrying about my three children, and I don't know if I can do it.
I do think that after I got adjusted to the schedule, and after I got through a year of lesson plans, this would be a pretty easy job in the second and subsequent years (only 58 students, remember??). That is, if I live through the first year.
So, the principal said they will finish interviewing today and check references over the weekend. They will make a decision and call on Monday due to the start date of August 3. There are at least three people being interviewed as I know they mentioned another male teacher, and there was another woman waiting in the lobby after I came out from my interview. Who knows, maybe one of them speaks Spanish, so they will be the better candidate.
We'll see what happens. I don't even know what I want to happen! I need God to give me some very clear direction.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Happy 8th Birthday, Owen!
Eight years ago today I went into premature labor. I remember well how it was so hot in my bedroom that morning, as I tried to sleep in. I was off work for the summer as a teacher, and I was enjoying those last few weeks as I was trying to get my classroom moved to a different building and get lesson plans written out for the substitute who would take over at the end of August for the rest of the semester.
Stuart had already left for work when I woke up. I stayed in bed, lazily flipping channels and then called my good friend Kathryn who was a stay-at-home mom. By the time I actually got up out of bed to take a shower, it was almost 10:00 a.m. Ah, those were the days before kids!
I remember the fear and panic as I went to the bathroom and realized I was bleeding heavily. I hadn't had any pain or contractions that were out of the ordinary, so this was my first sign of problems at 35 weeks. I immediately called my doctor's office who said to come right away, without even showering. Luckily, I lived 5 minutes from Baptist Hospital in Little Rock, and I felt that I could drive myself since I didn't feel any pain.
I knew it looked serious when I walked into the doctor's office to check in. I was told to go back immediately with no wait, and one of my doctors was already waiting for me in an exam room. No nurse. No waiting. I began to get scared. I had tried to call Stuart on the way over, but I had only gotten his voice mail. I had left him a message that I was on the way to the doctor's office.
The doctor performed my first internal exam to check for dilation, and almost simultaneously Stuart burst into the room with a worried look on his face. The doctor informed us that we were going to have a baby today. I was dilated past a 3 and almost 90% effaced. What???
I went to the hospital with no bag packed, no shower, and no breakfast. I got the IV, and the doctors watched me and checked me to see if I progressed. They did some ultrasounds to rule out a placenta abruption, and the bleeding seemed to slow. I dilated pretty quickly for a first pregnancy, and I really didn't feel much pain . . . until my water broke. Before my epidural.
I went through transition while trying to hold still to get the epidural, and I was shivering uncontrollably and thought I would vomit or pass out from the pain. At that point, I was dilated between a 7-8. Note to self -- don't wait that long to get an epidural, even if you think you don't need it yet.
Owen came out quickly with just a couple minutes of pushing, and was born around 9 p.m. He weighed 5 lbs, 9 oz, which was impressive considering his prematurity. He then spent 9 days in NICU for breathing, feeding, and heart issues. He came home on heart medication and a heart monitor for four months due to a diagnosis of SVT.
Now, he is 8 years old. We have only had one other instance of a heart issue with his SVT when he was in kindergarten. He is smart, funny, sensitive, and silly. You'd never know he was a preemie now! He made me a mommy for the first time, and it was a day I will never forget. On July 23, 2001, my world was forever changed.
Happy birthday, Owen!
Now the answer is "Maybe"
Maybe God and I are getting our wires crossed about the whole teaching issue! Just when I had put it to rest and blogged about how the answer was "no," a phone call changed everything.
The 9th grade English job which I had applied for was filled internally by a district teacher moving up from the junior high. Well, last night the English department head from that junior high called me and wondered if I was interested in their vacancy.
So, I interview tomorrow morning, and they should be making a quick decision in just a few days since school is just around the corner.
I feel a peace about this opportunity, and it offers some benefits with the teaching load over a high school position.
So, God is keeping me on my toes!
The 9th grade English job which I had applied for was filled internally by a district teacher moving up from the junior high. Well, last night the English department head from that junior high called me and wondered if I was interested in their vacancy.
So, I interview tomorrow morning, and they should be making a quick decision in just a few days since school is just around the corner.
I feel a peace about this opportunity, and it offers some benefits with the teaching load over a high school position.
So, God is keeping me on my toes!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
The answer is "No"
God seems to have given a definitive answer to my quest for teaching jobs, and the answer is "No." I applied with three of the major districts in my area who had all posted new openings for a high school English teacher, and I did not get a call from any of them for interviews. Now, the openings are filled.
It is discouraging since I felt that my renewed desire to go back to the classroom was a sign that God was directing me towards that goal, and obviously it was not. I am now praying that my sections at the community college will fill, so that I can resume the same online teaching assignment there. Right now, enrollment is low, but I have until August 14 until a decision is made to close a low section.
I am disappointed that my dreams of "the perfect job" didn't materialize, but it will be less work this year and more time with Arden. It was suggested to me that I would have a better chance of getting a job in the local high school here if I start subbing, so that I can make more connections with administrators at the high school. That is not exactly my dream job. Been there. Done that. However, it might be something that I will eventually have to do in order to use my degree. It would entail moving Arden to another childcare program for 2-3 days per week (at an increased cost) instead of using mother's day out. The mother's day out programs usually end by 2 or 2:30, and the high school doesn't get out until 3:35. I will spend this year praying about what to do for next year as far as changing Arden's childcare to possibly sub next year on a part-time basis. Until then, I'm just leaving my application on file with the district in "active" status.
I know that God is the one who opens and closes the doors, and we have had many jobs close with Stuart in the past which were huge disappointments. Later, we realized that it was because something else came along which was a much better fit. I am trusting God to provide for our family's financial needs and use me as a teacher where and when He opens the door.
It is discouraging since I felt that my renewed desire to go back to the classroom was a sign that God was directing me towards that goal, and obviously it was not. I am now praying that my sections at the community college will fill, so that I can resume the same online teaching assignment there. Right now, enrollment is low, but I have until August 14 until a decision is made to close a low section.
I am disappointed that my dreams of "the perfect job" didn't materialize, but it will be less work this year and more time with Arden. It was suggested to me that I would have a better chance of getting a job in the local high school here if I start subbing, so that I can make more connections with administrators at the high school. That is not exactly my dream job. Been there. Done that. However, it might be something that I will eventually have to do in order to use my degree. It would entail moving Arden to another childcare program for 2-3 days per week (at an increased cost) instead of using mother's day out. The mother's day out programs usually end by 2 or 2:30, and the high school doesn't get out until 3:35. I will spend this year praying about what to do for next year as far as changing Arden's childcare to possibly sub next year on a part-time basis. Until then, I'm just leaving my application on file with the district in "active" status.
I know that God is the one who opens and closes the doors, and we have had many jobs close with Stuart in the past which were huge disappointments. Later, we realized that it was because something else came along which was a much better fit. I am trusting God to provide for our family's financial needs and use me as a teacher where and when He opens the door.
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