A Change is Gonna Come

I haven't been able to get this song out of my head lately!  Jesus has been looking for a new job in warmer weather for the past year and I've just had a feeling that after Khaleesi was born, our "change was gonna come!"  My mom has been so gracious to let us stay with her after our unplanned return from the Dominican Republic while we've been trying to figure out what should be our next move.  We've agreed we want warmer weather and more house for our money.  The place that has stood out to us the most for specifically those two reasons has been Texas.  However Jesus has not found a job there or any of the other warm climates he's applied.  We believe it would be so much easier to get an out of state job if he was just in the state he was applying!

About a week ago, I had a thought.  If we really wanted to go to Texas, maybe I could get us there!  I remember hearing Texas needs teachers.  So I spent hours for two nights filling out extensive applications.  Teacher apps are the WORST with section upon section and then essay questions and personality surveys and some even have math tests!  The next day I decided I better email some Principals directly because how else would I get my name out of a big electronic pile.  Both the Houston and Dallas districts are so ginormous that I only emailed about ten principals each and there were still hundreds of schools left in the districts. There was no way I could have emailed them all.

By some crazy twist of fate, someone had an opening after the school year had begun.  On Tuesday I interviewed, on Wednesday I got an offer and on Thursday I accepted the position.

Friends, we are going to Dallas!

This wasn't our plan.  The plan was Jesus would get an offer and I would keep being a stay at home mom while setting up our new place and finding myself and the kids new friends.  But somehow with the offer we did receive, we couldn't refuse.  I wanted to.  I thought I was going to up until I dialed the Principal's phone number.

It's a pay cut and a leap of faith!

I have been so sad and so scared about going back to work full time and leaving my babies but it's just a school year and school's out at 3:30 every day so I can make it.  Jesus has a whole new world ahead of him being the stay at home dad until he finds a job but he's ready.   I know he and the kids will have fun but I'm just hoping he will get groceries and do laundry from time to time! ;)  So working moms, it's time to insert your advice here. Am I going to cry in front of my co-workers every day missing my babies?!

I've been doing a lot of studying about the difference between inspiration and intuition and fear. I've been finding inspirational quotes that both lead me to go and lead me to stay. The conclusion I came to was that my reason for not taking the position would have been fear.  The best part of the whole thing was when I hung up the phone with the Principal, I actually felt excitement and that was unexpected.  I had been praying and feeling conflicted for days. After I accepted the position, I changed my prayer to: "Lord, I'm doing this.  Please stop it if isn't right."  But as of now, Jesus and I are feeling good.  Nervous to quit Jesus's job and pack up and leave but we know it's an opportunity we have to go for.  We moved to the Dominican Republic when Joaquin was between 3 and 4 months and now to Texas when Khaleesi is between 3 and 4 months.  Maybe we will settle there or maybe we will just move again after a third baby that turns 3 months...JK I hope!  Could you imagine?!

Check out all the quotes I found that just confused me because some pointed one way and some pointed the other.

 


 


Oh and do you want to know about my position? It's not a classroom teacher which I'm actually really excited about.  It's in a large elementary school in Dallas.  Lots of the schools in the district have gardens they use to teach classes about entomology, agriculture, community, etc.  This school has one of the biggest and most historical gardens in the district.  They even have a butterfly garden and a chicken coup within it!  It's basically a community garden run by the school and volunteers and what the Principal described to me as very involved, high maintenance parents.  I am going to be the garden coordinator and liaison between parents and teachers for this program. It's such an exciting program that they have had for years but they just need some help so I'm going to take on the job!

Clearly we're sad to miss so many people we love here in Minnesota but this is our chance to get settled somewhere warm and potentially find a beautiful new home.  I'll especially miss my mom and my brother who have been so close by but flights from here to there are only $80 bucks so that as well as FaceTime will help a lot.  Prayers and happy thoughts needed for Jesus to get a job once we're out there and thanks in advance for that!