Hubby's job sitch

[beckyminor]

Thanks so much for all of your prayers...I know they have been a help to us in ways we can't even quantify right now.

At the moment, I'm trying to decide just how big an earthquake we are willing to introduce to our lives in order to make this career move for Scott work.

A second (and maybe 3rd) income seems like the only plausible option, so I have to figure out how that looks. Fitting income, homeschooling, writing, and care of family all into an earth day is tricky, but not a challenge individual to us, I know. There are things that may have to go, and I pray I can be discerning and flexible enough to release the things I should.

[birdnerd]

Perhaps you can find something that's relatively non-time-draining. A friend of mine kept his household budget under control by selling obscure stuff on eBay for example.

Just don't try candy dispensers in store fronts. My SIL bought $6000 worth of those "put a quarter in and crank it to get candy" things ... and still hasn't made her money back five years later.

[beckyminor]

Wow...I'm sorry to hear about your SIL who sunk that much money into a non-paying vending situation. I know we walk right by the candy machines every time, and I have never seen anyone using them either, so I guess it would be hard to make back 6 grand in quarters.

Ironically, I ran across a job posted yesterday on Monster for a local company that's looking for an animator/artist, which was exactly what I was doing before I left the workforce to start my family. Unfortunately, I have not learned the technology (Flash) and how it has evolved since I stopped animating, so that may make me a no-go for this company, but I figured it didn't hurt to look into it. It's only part time, which is actually better for us than a full time job would be. We shall see if the Lord wants to usher me through that door or not.

[birdnerd]

My brother was ... unimpressed by his wife's purchase. She put the charge on their credit card. O.o

My parents tried to help out by buying a couple of the machines and putting them down here (Brother and SIL are in Iowa. Parents involved in this adventure are in Texas)... the candy (mini chocolate bars of various sorts) melted because of the heat coming through the windows. Doh!

My brother paid off the debt by being frugal with his pay and working overtime in his "real" job, and I think she's learned her lesson. She's avoided similar get-rich-yesterday! schemes.

RE: the animator gig...
Well, y'know, if your artistic talents are what they want, I've found most modern tech is pretty much learn-as-you-go. The GUIs on most of them are pretty straightforward, plus or minus a few quirks. A little on the job training will catch you up fast enough. Whether you get the gig will depend on what your competition is and -- more importantly -- if God's hand is in it.

[Kristen]

Becky, you may have thought I forgot about you because I'm such a horrible correspondent, but I've had your family in my prayers ever since you expressed concern about being able to afford to go to the ACFW conference. I continue to pray that God will give you and your Mr. wisdom and provision for all your needs.

[beckyminor]

Thanks so much Kristen. Your prayers have been a help, as I have managed to pay the registration for ACFW...still hunting in the couch cushions for the airfare, though! That's the last piece of the puzzle. I would love to be able to look back some day and see my money woes are in the past, but is there anyone who ever feels they have enough? Amazing how we can just spend up to the limit of what we have.

[newburydave]

Praying for you and yours Sis.

Christian Education is a vital ministry and God provides for his Ministers. Sometime the Ravens he uses don't appear at first.

SGD
dave

[beckyminor]

Thanks for the encouragement, Dave. As it turns out, the Lord has brought a kind benefactor into my life who is probably going to buy my airline ticket to the conference, so how's that for immediate answers to prayer?

Still just trying to hang in there on the worries about "how this is all going to work." It has grown pretty clear to me that I'm under some enemy pressure, so I have a feeling somebody doesn't like the step my husband is taking very much. I'm trying my best to lean on the Lord and not let my fretting get in the way of the work he can do through my husband. Easier said than done, eh?

[birdnerd]

Always.

I've been through enough (mis)adventures lately to be certain things will work out for you, but sometimes I do wish God I could have a peek at God's plotmap for my life, y'know?

[morganlbusse]

Becky, that's great to hear about the airline ticket! It looks like a no go for me for the conference this year. Some unforeseen expenses came up during our move into our new house. But I'll be thinking about ya and have lots of fun!

[beckyminor]

Birdnerd...yep, I hear you on wishing God would clue us in a little on where he's taking us. Then again, maybe we woudn't go with him if we knew in advance...lol.

And morwena... I'm sorry to hear life sucked the funds too dry to get the conference to work out for you. Seems like moving always has those little, hidden costs that crop up. (Or sometimes big expenses.)

[morganlbusse]

It would be nice to find money hiding somewhere when you move rather than it going a random hole. Oh well I was able to go to Mt Hermon this year, so I consider that quite a highlight already lol. Hope you have lots of fun and meet some great people!

[beckyminor]

I can imagine Mt. Hermon was great. It such a beautiful venue on top of the awesome writing stuff that was going on there.

[beckyminor]

Latest update...let's see if I can keep it short:

We toured the school, and the staff there seems very friendly and open...and they are bending over backwards to make it financially doable for our kids to attend the school.

With tuition considerations now a non-issue, I was very close to saying "Okay, let's do this..." when I got a message on facebook this morning from a homeschool mom in my support group. She expressed concern for the high turn-over rate on teachers at the school due to the non-competitive pay rate they offer. (A foreign exchange student they have living with them long-term just graduated from the school in question, so she's not just speculating.) So now I'm second guessing. Is the education going to be better, or at least comparable, to what we're doing at home? Ugh.

[birdnerd]

Well, having worked in schools with high teacher turnover, that's not always a bad thing. (Caveat: Where I was working that had high turnover was due to psycho administrators and demon-possessed -- and I'm not sure I'm exaggerating -- kids and parents)

True, you lose some in continuity in building relationships from staff to squirts, but with mandated curricula now, the material being taught is the same. With the push for everyone to use "best practices" to the point where there are often scripts to be followed, often the technique doesn't change from one teacher to the next unless you have teachers old enough to remember Moses in their classes. These often buck the system and insist on doing things their own way.

The gain is that you often lose teachers who are stuck in 1970 ... y'know, teaching the same lessons the same way they did back when they started teaching. They're short-timers, ready to retire this year or next anyway. A lot has changed since then, so kids miss out on technology and updated strategies.

High turnover also means that you lose teachers who are getting burnout.

In the situation you describe, you'll also lose teachers whose finances can't handle the pay cut, which is very unfortunate.

Ultimately, I don't think the issue will be so much where the kids will get the better education but rather whether your household pocketbook can take the hit.