Decision Made

It's official:  I'm unemployed.  I turned in a letter of resignation this past week and the school board accepted it this past Tuesday evening.  It hasn't really sunk in yet for me because I still need to finish cleaning out my classroom.  When I turn in my key, reality is bound to hit me.

Plus, school hasn't started yet.  When it starts without me, I'm not sure exactly how I will feel.  But I can guarantee that there will be more than a bit of sadness involved.  I just finished five years at my school and they were, overall, good years.  I have grown as a teacher, I have had numerous great students, and I enjoyed my co-workers.  I even got to have my nieces in class - and might have even had my nephew in class this year if I were sticking around. 

That crazy word "IF"!  Melissa and I agonized over this decision and did not come to it lightly.  We came to it with fear and trembling!  At issue seemed to be two paths: one where I kept working and we continued funding in a very part-time capacity, putting us in Haiti in August of 2013 at the earliest.  The second path would see me giving up my job so I could be deliberate about the funding process in the hopes of getting us to Haiti in late December of this year. 

We would have loved for some glaring neon sign, pointing us in the "right" direction.  And I would love to be able to say that God wrote an exact departure date on the calendar for us.  But it doesn't work that way, as my sister-in-law Suzan reminded us with a mailing of a sermon transcript from her pastor.  So after considering Scripture, praying, and seeking the counsel of several wise friends, we were left, as Suzan's pastor puts it, to "exercise the liberty God has given us". 

In the end, Melissa and I both came to a place where we were OK with either option - which is a good place to be.  And we are left knowing that we need to be humble in our planning, admitting that we don't even know what tomorrow will bring.  That being said, our hearts are in Haiti and a new school year will begin there in about a month - without us being in place.  But, if it is the Lord's will, we will make it in time for the second semester.

James 4:13-15
Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” TNIV

P.S.  One week from tomorrow, The Princess (age 5) will start kindergarten.  How exciting to see her enthusiasm for school!  Each morning for the past week, her first question upon popping out of bed is "how many more days until I get to go to school?"  I hope my impatience for getting to Haiti is of similar pure motivation.