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Post by beckyminor on Jul 22, 2010 16:28:02 GMT -5
Hello all, Can I implore you for your prayers for wisdom for my family and me regarding a potential job shift for my husband? It's looking pretty sure that a local Christian school is going to offer him a full-time position as a drama/choir director. The pros of this potential offer: - It would be a dream job for him that speaks to all of his gifts and passions. (I have been praying for a long time that the Lord would move him into a place where he would have a career he can really pour his heart into and be a good fit.)
- Should we decide we would rather send our kids to a brick and mortar school rather than homeschool, this school gives a 90% discount on tuition for faculty's kids
- Should I have a reason (i.e. contract on my book
) to go to writing full time, I would have an option for educating my kids that I would feel better about than our local public school system
- The school is literally 5 minutes away...lower gas expenses, more "at home time" for hubby
The cons: Well, as you can imagine, there's really only one big con, and that's the limited pay scale a Christian school can offer. What I am praying about, and ask if you would join me, is that we would have the wisdom to see God's hand in this, and if my husband should take on a low-paying job that is the perfect career for him from a gifts/talents/love standpoint. And if he should, prayers that the Lord will provide for our inevitable budget shortfall would be a great help. Exciting, yet rattling stuff for us.
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Post by birdnerd on Jul 23, 2010 6:54:16 GMT -5
Wow...
I completely understand the "I'd love to teach there but can't take the 30-40% pay cut" problem, and given the real hours of teaching, getting job #2 to fill in the gap would end up creating a work week longer than the number of hours in the week.
I pray God grants you a solution to this. Perhaps your writing will take off or the school provides a stipend for some "extra duty." (I'm the elementary gifted and talented coordinator for the district I work for. It carries a stipend of ... ya ready for this ... $200. That's per year, not per month. Pfft! *shrug*)
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Post by Teskas on Jul 23, 2010 18:20:43 GMT -5
I certainly will pray for you, Becky. It's a big decision for sure.
If it helps you in any way, let me tell you about my friend. He had a comfortable editorial job for a national sports magazine. It paid the bills, and he liked the writing and editing part of it. Yet he was dissatisfied. He had always dreamed of being a serious news reporter. He wanted to report politics, social issues--Woodward and Bernstein stuff. I think of it as "West Wing" journalism. Anyway, he told me he would never be a news reporter because he was married with a mortgage and could never afford the salary cut.
Lo and behold, there was a shake-up at the magazine and he lost his job. It clobbered his finances and his confidence. He looked for work everywhere--he applied at the local auto factory, Walmart, McDonald's. It was always the same. He was over-qualified. He was desperate. He had been unemployed for ten months when the miracle happened. He was offered a job on the local paper as a news reporter. He covered momentous political events that were in the national news for months. He worked long hours. He met national political figures. He wasn't making much money, but he was doing what he had always dreamed of doing.
Then, one day, the owner of the paper called him in and asked him to take over as managing editor of the newspaper. With a pay raise.
The reason I'm telling you this is that when my friend told me his story, it reached right to the core of me. Fear and trembling before the power of God. God had laid something on my friend's heart that He didn't want ignored. He was not about to let my friend's narrow take on what was possible get in the way.
I don't want to minimize the importance of prudence, but, if God wants your husband to do this, He will take care of the finances, too.
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Post by beckyminor on Jul 23, 2010 20:29:30 GMT -5
Thanks for the encouraging words, birdnerd and Teskas. The story you offered was a great one, Teskas, and I wholeheartedly agree...we should not call anything impossible if we at all believe it is in line with the Lord's will. Staying confident that God will continue to provide, as He always has, is the challenge before me. Of course, I shouldn't count my chickens...we won't know until Tuesday whether they are extending him an offer for sure. I'll keep you posted, of course...it's time to go pray some more.
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Post by Bainespal on Jul 26, 2010 15:43:38 GMT -5
My mother is a teacher at the Christian school that I just graduated from. My family also used to do homeschooling; I was homeschooled through the fourth grade, but my poor mother couldn't get us to do our work. I'm certainly glad that I've had the privilege of nine years at a Christian academy. It's not as if there's never any stress, or even politics, in the school body; and yet the environment has never been discouraging. It creates a strong sense of community. If your Christian school is anything like mine, then it can't afford the wasteful indulgences of public education, and the staff certainly aren't in it for the money. Well, I thought I'd share that, in light of your decision. I hope you have peace with whatever you choose.
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Post by beckyminor on Jul 26, 2010 20:28:37 GMT -5
Thanks so much for your perspective, Bainespal. It was encouraging to hear from someone who has been through pretty much the exact situation my oldest son will experience if a.) my husband gets the job, and b.) we elect to send the school age kids to the school. (My eldest is going into 5th grade.)
We're waiting to exhale around here, to be honest...the teacher who is leaving the position is already making arrangements to meet with my husband to discuss the drama program, despite the fact that the school has not yet extended him a formal offer. So, needless to say, we have a pretty clear sense that he will get the offer tomorrow.
From my finite POV, I have this little fantasy in my head: Wouldn't it be perfect if my husband lands this job, then I get a contract on my novel, so I can start being a full time author earning a modest second income of royalties. Talk about a shot in the dark, though.
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Post by birdnerd on Jul 27, 2010 6:29:51 GMT -5
Stranger things have happened.
When does the school expect to make a decision on the person for the position?
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Post by beckyminor on Jul 27, 2010 8:50:54 GMT -5
The superintendent told my husband they would call today with their decision. Since my hubby is 2 hours away for his current job this morning, I haven't heard anything about a call coming in, but we shall see if he gets the final word.
I'm remaining cautious, merely because we have seen other jobs look "in the bag" and had something change at the last minute.
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Post by beckyminor on Jul 27, 2010 17:26:49 GMT -5
Update: Scott got the call this afternoon, officially offering him the job. The contract details will arrive on Thursday, but barring some kind of unforeseen cult-give-us-your-firstborn clause, I think he'll be signing on the dotted line. Now we have to pray over our bigger picture for the family...whether our kids will attend the school, whether I need to pull an income to ease the financial shortfall, or what. It's a new chapter, for sure.
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Post by birdnerd on Jul 27, 2010 20:47:56 GMT -5
Beauty!
There are pros and cons to homeschool vs. private school, and depending on how big a shortfall it is, there could be different ways to close the hole.
Me? I'm hopin' your writing career blasts off!
Whoot!
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Post by beckyminor on Jul 27, 2010 22:07:16 GMT -5
Me? I'm hopin' your writing career blasts off! Whoot! You and me both. Thanks for the cheers.
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Post by isabeau on Jul 28, 2010 1:34:18 GMT -5
Congratulations on the job!
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Post by Teskas on Jul 28, 2010 6:05:26 GMT -5
That's good news, Becky. I'll keep praying for everything to go smoothly for all of you.
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Post by morganlbusse on Jul 28, 2010 7:21:33 GMT -5
That's great news!
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Post by metalikhan on Jul 30, 2010 0:03:26 GMT -5
Sweet! I'll continue praying all goes well with your husband's job and with the kids' schooling (whether at home or at the school). And an extra blessing of success for your writing.
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