Not my plan.

So my last post summed up my surrender to God's plan, regardless of how comfortable (or, more accurately, UNcomfortable) it made me.

God has been doing CRAZY things in our lives since then.

I turned in my resignation immediately after posting the last blog.

Things stayed as they were for a few weeks. I got more and more frantic as the weeks went on. We tried to start looking for housing, but to no avail since we had no jobs. We had no idea how we were going to get down to San Antonio.

Then during the week of May 30, I got a call from a school in Seguin, TX (about 30 minutes outside of San Antonio) asking if I would come and do an interview. I was ELATED about the prospect of a job. We had already started arranging a trip down to San Antonio for Chris to try and find housing, and so we just added me to the trip, and my interview was scheduled for three weeks later.

On May 31, we got an offer on our house. It was lower than the bank said we could go, so we countered. They accepted the counteroffer, and again, I was ELATED.

However, we didn't get a paper copy back of the signed counteroffer. The next day, they called and said they needed more time to think about it, and held onto their signed counteroffer. Three days passed, and at the end of the three days they decided to back out of the deal. I was pretty crestfallen, but it sounded like the main reason they decided to pull out was because it was causing some conflict within the family. I knew that it would be better for them to pull out early than to have possibly years of conflict over this one purchase. We have had no offers since, and it is still on the market.

Chris and I flew down a few weeks later. Chris had a job interview at a Christian School in New Braunfels (the town we have felt led to actually live in), and I had my job interview in Seguin. Chris got a second interview, and I got a job offer, which I joyfully accepted. We still haven't heard about Chris' job.

So we used the rest of the trip to find a place to live, which was much easier now that I had a solid job offer. We found a place in a manufactured home community that was within our income and applied to rent it. We flew home, found out that our application was accepted, signed the lease, and began to plan for our move.

We emptied our house, selling much of the furniture inside of it, packed the Penske moving truck we rented, and headed out just this last Saturday. We spent the first night in Filer, ID with my dear friend who is a pastor there, and then led worship outdoors at the fairgrounds for their community. It was a tearful goodbye with our dear friends there, and then we were off. We drove and drove, stopping for the night in Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Fort Stockton, TX.

We had gotten into Fort Stockton at nearly one in the morning. We were exhausted and all of us fell asleep as soon as we hit the pillows. We slept in until almost nine that morning. I was the first one up and showered quickly, trying to make up for the time we had spent sleeping in. While the rest of the family was getting ready, my cell phone rang. It was from area code 210. I was puzzled at first, but then remembered the 210 was San Antonio. I answered, but got no response. I assumed it had been a misplaced call. A minute later, my phone range again from the same number.

When I answered it this time, a man introduced himself as the principal from a school in an area of San Antonio called Alamo Heights. I knew the area well. It's where our boys' school is. My heart sank as I realized what he was probably calling about. He met my expectations when he asked if I was still looking for a music teaching position as one had just recently opened in their district. I told him quite mournfully that I had already accepted a position at another school district, and he wished me good luck. I hung up the phone and started moaning and groaning. No really...I, a 32 year old mother of four, started audibly moaning and groaning. And then screaming. I did NOT understand why this particular principal from this particular school would have called AFTER I'd been down in the area to do another interview and had already accepted the job.

Here's why I was acting the way I was: At this point, we had NO idea of how we were going to transport the boys to their school, assuming we could afford to get them there. This particular location brought them in the exact area that the school was.

Chris told me not to worry about it, Kadee Joy told me "stop freaking her out", and so I sensibly stopped. For about 30 seconds. Then I called my mom.

She counseled me to call the principal back, explain the situation honestly, and see what he said. After freaking out another minute, I did as she advised. The principal was very friendly and told me he thought it would be great for me to interview, since Texas law didn't hold me to any contract until July 13th. Apparently the job had JUST opened up because the gal who had taught before had major family changes happening and had to move to a different part of Texas to be able to take care of them. So we scheduled an interview for 9:00 am the next day. Which was this morning.

We got into New Braunfels last night, unloaded our moving truck with the help of family and a kind youth group from our prospective church, and unpacked a little bit. I ran to Ross to try and find something that would work for an interview, which luckily I was able to. I got my outfit ready, set my alarm, got VERY little sleep, and then woke up, got ready, and drove to Alamo Heights.

The neighborhood in surrounding the school is RIDICULOUS. It's filled with beautiful, terribly expensive older homes, and lots of beautiful trees and landscaping. That's what sets Alamo Heights apart from the other parts of San Antonio. We had found it the same way when we'd visited the boys school in March. I drove into the school parking lot and went it. I was a little early, so after about ten minutes of waiting, the principal who had called me called my name, introduced himself in person, and then took me into the office to be interviewed. Both he and the principal of the school of the position I was interview for were there.

It was the longest interview I've ever had, and was very interesting. I was impressed by the importance they placed on the arts, the diversity of the students, the care in which they took to show respect and high expectations to their students, and felt also that the job was COMPLETELY out of my league. Overall, though, I thought it went okay, and they told me that I would probably know by next Tuesday if I'd gotten the position. They were going to contact my references after I gave them updated information, which I did as soon as I got home. Then I contacted my references as well to let them know that, despite the fact that I already had another job, they would be receiving calls from another school district.

I was pretty exhausted, so after some lunch and more unpacking, I laid down to take a nap. Chris woke me up, and let me know that the principal was on the phone. I was a little shocked, as I had been told it would take much longer to know anything. I answered, and she told me that my references had confirmed what she had gathered from my interview, and that she very much wanted to hire me for the position.

I was a little dumbfounded, but accepted immediately. And here's why:

God's plans and timing are always better than mine. I do not believe it was a coincidence that I was offered a job in one school district that enabled me to secure a house, which enabled us to secure the date to move down, which then put us in San Antonio THE DAY before a job interview for a job that had not existed until the very day I was contacted in Fort Stockton, which HAPPENED to be in a school TWO MILES away from the school that God specifically called me to bring my boys to. It is literally the closest public elementary school to my boys' school. It also pays enough to cover the cost in gas it would take to get them there on a daily basis.

It is a job that I simply will not be able to do on my own, and I don't expect to be able to. Because I serve a big God who has my back, and has not abandoned me yet, and has walked alongside me as I attempt to be obedient to what he has called me to do.

I called the principal from Seguin, and she graciously told me that of course I needed to do what was best for my family, and wished me luck. I am grateful for her, and her part in bringing us here.

6 months ago, we started the process, and God has been so incredibly faithful to bring me to where I am today. I praise Him for His provision, and his perfect plan. And I pray for the strength to do what He is asking me to do each day.