Painful decisions (long)

Well, despite being offered a great job in Lawrence, KS we have decided to stay put here in Michigan. I can honestly say that this was the toughest decision that I've ever had to make before. How did this situation come about?

It all started two weeks ago. I received a phone call from a school in Lawrence saying that they had a job opening and asked if I would be interested. Of course I said yes! My first real contact was a phone interview w/ the head principal. Everything went well and he asked if I could come down for a 2nd interview. So we planned to that the following Friday (July 6th) In the meantime, I interviewed for a school district near Midland, but got turned down. In my head I'm now thinking we might be leaving for Lawrence.

Fast forward to Friday: The interview went well and I got a lot of questions answered. They then offered me the job. Great! I thought. Now what?

I flew home to my wife Sandra and we talked it over. After crunching the numbers in our budget, I was quickly reminded that teachers don't make a whole lot and with grad school freshly completed we didn't have a whole lot of breathing space as far as affordable living conditions go. So, back to the bargaining table. I asked the school about coaching positions and they said yes. Great! Now we will have a little bit more money per month but a large question mark was still where we would live. We would have 3 weeks to look for a home, Sandra to quit her job, for us to say all of out goodbyes, and to pack up and move back to Kansas knowing full well that our budget was about to be cut in half....and then the kicker.

I was supposed to give them my answer yesterday afternoon. I was already to call and say yes with many mixed emotions about leaving our many, loved Michigan friends. Together, Sandra and I have made Michigan our "home" since it is the only place that we have lived together as one. Before I called, I myself received a call and was told that I now have an interview for a position 30 miles down the road next Wednesday. But Lawrence needed to know TODAY! God has interesting timing.

Maybe this new position will work out. Maybe it won't, but to say goodbye to people we love w/ the option of staying and being employed was overwhelming me. I just couldn't do it. So, now Sandra and I have a game plan. For those who care (and you must if you've been reading this long) I'm interviewing for the position in Clare, MI. If I get it wonderful things happen! If I don't get it, then I'll work where I can, preferably in the local school district as a para-pro or something. In the meantime, Sandra has one more year of work left, and then I've promised that she never has to work again if she doesn't want to. In other words, she'll probably have one more year left at Dow Corning and then she'll call it quits. This way we can afford a better housing situation in the future and get a good jump start on retirement savings Why? B/c we really want to start our own family soon, but under the best possible situation.

If the Clare job doesn't work out, then we'll start this whole bi-state job searching thing again :( But we'll probably be a bit less picky next time around with it knowing that it's my time to bring home the bacon, and Sandra will be done with her job one way or another. At least then we'll have a bit more saved up for housing.

Keep praying for us as I'm feeling physically ill after all of the worrying that has taken place on this emotional roller coaster. Thanks all!