Anyway, the job thing is kind of a cool story, which I conveniently already typed up for a talk I gave in church on integrity...so I'll copy and paste...
As many of you know, I have been teaching in Idaho for the past 8 years. After completing my masters degree this past year I decided it was time to try and get a job closer to home, since this is where I want to “settle”. I intended to find a job, then buy a house, and settle into my quiet little life. Well, the Lord had other plans. I wasn’t looking for a home, but in February, the perfect home for me at the perfect price for me seemed to fall in my lap. However, I’m a logical soul, sometimes, and I thought it was ridiculous to buy a house until I had obtained a job here. Makes sense right? Even still, I felt like I should buy it, and after much prayer and fasting I decided to take a leap of faith...or what felt like a leap of faith at the time. It turns out it was just a little step compared to what was to come.
I closed on my house in March and continued my search for a job close to my new home. Well, March turned into April, and April turned into May. In May I received my contract for next year in Idaho...but I still did not have a job in Utah. Many people told me to just sign it and then to “get out of the contract” if a job in Utah came along. I know several people who have done that before and it worked for them.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I am a woman with many weaknesses and am far from perfect, and I do not mean to imply judgement on anyone else's choices, only on the one I had to make, but I felt really uncomfortable signing a contract that I may not fulfill. It seemed to be a black and white issue to me. I was either honest and true, a woman of integrity, or I wasn’t. So just this once I did the right thing and the choice for me became whether to sign and stay in Idaho another year, or don’t sign and hope and pray I get a job to pay the mortgage on my little townhouse. I fasted, prayed, and went to the temple hoping to find an answer on what to do. I finally decided to resign my position in Idaho. I felt good about it, but even still, that was one giant leap of faith for me. I did not know how things would work out, but I felt like they would. I then spent the longest 3 weeks of my life, honestly, it felt like an eternity, trying to figure out a way to meet my financial obligations if I did not find a teaching job by fall, and hoping that I wouldn’t have to live with any of the “worse case scenario” solutions I came up with. Exactly 3 weeks to the hour that I turned in my letter of resignation, I received a phone call, which wasn’t entirely unexpected as I had an interview the day before. (By the way, waiting for potential employers to call is much worse than waiting for a boy to call...just so you know.) The principal I had interviewed with called and asked me if I was under contract with my district in Idaho for next year. I told him no. He asked if they had offered me a return contract and I said, yes and explained that I had turned it down in hopes of finding employment in Northern Utah. Then he said, “okay, I had to know because if you were under contract with another district then the rest of this conversation would be very different" and then offered me a first grade position. How disappointed I would have been if I had signed a contract in Idaho figuring I could break it if something better came along, then lost the opportunity to work here in the district I live in, which was where I most wanted to be.
So there you go...a little snippet of my talk and the newest installment of my life news all wrapped in one happy package. And I didn't have to type it twice...woohoo!
As many of you know, I have been teaching in Idaho for the past 8 years. After completing my masters degree this past year I decided it was time to try and get a job closer to home, since this is where I want to “settle”. I intended to find a job, then buy a house, and settle into my quiet little life. Well, the Lord had other plans. I wasn’t looking for a home, but in February, the perfect home for me at the perfect price for me seemed to fall in my lap. However, I’m a logical soul, sometimes, and I thought it was ridiculous to buy a house until I had obtained a job here. Makes sense right? Even still, I felt like I should buy it, and after much prayer and fasting I decided to take a leap of faith...or what felt like a leap of faith at the time. It turns out it was just a little step compared to what was to come.
I closed on my house in March and continued my search for a job close to my new home. Well, March turned into April, and April turned into May. In May I received my contract for next year in Idaho...but I still did not have a job in Utah. Many people told me to just sign it and then to “get out of the contract” if a job in Utah came along. I know several people who have done that before and it worked for them.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I am a woman with many weaknesses and am far from perfect, and I do not mean to imply judgement on anyone else's choices, only on the one I had to make, but I felt really uncomfortable signing a contract that I may not fulfill. It seemed to be a black and white issue to me. I was either honest and true, a woman of integrity, or I wasn’t. So just this once I did the right thing and the choice for me became whether to sign and stay in Idaho another year, or don’t sign and hope and pray I get a job to pay the mortgage on my little townhouse. I fasted, prayed, and went to the temple hoping to find an answer on what to do. I finally decided to resign my position in Idaho. I felt good about it, but even still, that was one giant leap of faith for me. I did not know how things would work out, but I felt like they would. I then spent the longest 3 weeks of my life, honestly, it felt like an eternity, trying to figure out a way to meet my financial obligations if I did not find a teaching job by fall, and hoping that I wouldn’t have to live with any of the “worse case scenario” solutions I came up with. Exactly 3 weeks to the hour that I turned in my letter of resignation, I received a phone call, which wasn’t entirely unexpected as I had an interview the day before. (By the way, waiting for potential employers to call is much worse than waiting for a boy to call...just so you know.) The principal I had interviewed with called and asked me if I was under contract with my district in Idaho for next year. I told him no. He asked if they had offered me a return contract and I said, yes and explained that I had turned it down in hopes of finding employment in Northern Utah. Then he said, “okay, I had to know because if you were under contract with another district then the rest of this conversation would be very different" and then offered me a first grade position. How disappointed I would have been if I had signed a contract in Idaho figuring I could break it if something better came along, then lost the opportunity to work here in the district I live in, which was where I most wanted to be.
So there you go...a little snippet of my talk and the newest installment of my life news all wrapped in one happy package. And I didn't have to type it twice...woohoo!
Okay, so in other news. Girls camp is over, which means I'm on to my new ward. It was hard to make the decision to just stop going to my old ward and start going to my new ward because I love my old ward so much and feel so comfortable there. Well, and there's the crippling anxiety I have when facing "the unknown". I am getting better about doing scary things outside my comfort zone, since that seems to be a general theme in my life these days. Anyway, so I attended my new ward and I lived! I assume it'll get easier with time, but I am very grateful for the people that sat by me and made me feel welcome...they were truly an answer to many months of prayers. That makes me think, by the way, it only took a small handful of people to make something I was terrified of a pleasant experience...and I don't know that I've ever been one of those people because I'm a bit shy myself (don't laugh, it's true). I guess I need to start paying more attention to how I can be that answer to someone's prayer in the future hey?
Funny story...I have been cutting vinyl for my bedroom wall...I have a cool saying that I like (lyrics to a song in fact) but so far all I have up is "Home... It's a four", which is all Dale saw when he came to see my house for the first time. Every time I think of him wondering what in the blazes "Home it's a four" meant, I just crack up. I'll have to get pictures of it up when it's done. I actually need to do a house photo shoot so you can all see the cuteness of my humble abode.
Okay, well, I am off to bed, maybe. But stay tuned, I have a half written post about my spring trip to Alabama...which was FANTASTIC... so it'll be up soon (unless I continue to slack).
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