Unemployment? Nah...

I have many things to blog about, and many pictures to share. Check back over the next few days, as there will be a slew of things to read and look at.

I'll go in order, starting with my job.

Two weeks ago, I interviewed at Gateway High School. As I blogged here, I did not get the job, and I was so upset the day I found out. I spent a good 45 minutes crying in my classroom (alone) because I was so stressed about being unemployed. However, my friend who teaches at Gateway told me they really liked me and were interested in me for a different position. They wanted me to interview for this new position, and they made it sound like I had a really good chance of getting the job. My faith was renewed and I was confident that maybe I would have a job after all. The new job they wanted me to interview for was to teach 9th and 10th grade, which is ideal for me. The other position was for 12th grade and ELL (English Language Learners). I began to see that perhaps God was working everything out (duh) and that this new position was a better fit for me, which is why I didn't get the other job. I began preparing for my new interview.

In the mean time, last Tuesday, I went into Brock's room to tell him I was going to accept the .6 position at Chatfield. I figured a little bit of a job was better than no job. I was going to tell him that if I did get the job at Gateway, which was full time, I would resign my .6 position, but before I could even open my mouth to speak to Brock he said, "Hold on. Before you say anything, I need to know if you've heard about Susan."

Susan is an English teacher at Chatfield. She's been there for years and years, and everyone assumed she would retire at Chatfield.

I told Brock I hadn't heard anything, and he proceeded to tell me that Susan had just resigned because she was moving to another town. She literally had been in his room about five minutes before I walked in to put in her resignation.

My mouth dropped to the floor. I was sooooooooo shocked and excited that I was speechless. Brock chuckled and said, "See, I told you everything would work out. Now we will be able to keep you on full time."

With Susan quitting, it did a couple of things for the school. There was now a 1.6 English position at Chatfield. Also, a Social Studies teacher (Dennis) who was full time this past year had been cut to .7 (same situation as me-due to lower numbers, they had to cut back on some teachers). A different teacher who is qualified to teach both English and Social Studies said she would give three of her Social Studies to Dennis, making him full time. She picked up three English classes, which reduced the English position to 1.3. They called a lady who had quit last year to stay home with her kids and asked if she would want a .3 English position. She accepted. That left a full time position for me.

However, Susan taught AP 11, which I am not qualified to teach. That posed a problem, and Brock was afraid my principal was going to hire someone who was trained to teach AP classes. The last day of school, Wednesday, was very stressful for me. The principal told me he would do everything in his power to keep me, so Brock and Bernie worked on remaking the schedule to accommodate me. I told Bernie that I was kind of on a time crunch because I was expecting a call from Gateway to schedule an interview.

At 4pm on Wednesday, Bernie called and offered me a full time position at Chatfield teaching 10th and 11th grade English (previously I was teaching 9th and 10th grade). I accepted with every ounce of everything I had in me. I have never been so excited.

Looking back at the entire detail of events, I can fully see God's hand at work in the entire situation. Had I gotten the first job at Gateway, I would not have been able to accept the job at Chatfield . If Susan would not have quit, I wouldn't have been able to stay at Chatfield. There are many other details that show me God's hand at work in my job, and it just amazes me that He was orchestrating everything just perfectly for ME. God is good!

Gateway called yesterday to set up an interview for the new position. I politely and generously declined, telling them I had accepted a position at Chatfield. I have never felt so at peace with turning down a job, and I can't even describe how excited I am to be back where I belong.

Even better, since I'm teaching 11th grade next year, I have a lot of the same students I had this year as 10th graders. I am so excited to be with them again.