5 Years and WOW
The past 5 years has been a bundle of experiences. I remember when I graduated with my master's degree. It was 2008. I was a newly certified teacher who was fortunate to find a temporary, part-time job at the high school I graduated from. Aaron and I were married and living in Eugene at the time, so we trekked back to our hometown. It was such a blessing to have a job opportunity at my old high school. We prayed about it, and we were truly thankful. After the move, Aaron got a job at a tire company and things were up and down that year with our finances, living situation, etc. It was the best teaching year I could have possibly experienced for year one - but Aaron was unhappy.
They couldn't renew my contract in the spring, which meant I had to job hunt again. I found myself interviewing for, and later accepting, a job in Tillamook at the junior high. I was born there, spent quite a bit of time there, and it was odd to find myself on a journey back to where I came into the world. Aaron, on the other hand, finally saw an opening at a local cabinet shop in Bend. We had to decide what was best for us, so we moved to Tillamook. We didn't know if we were going to survive financially, where we would live, or whether we could even find a home with our two large dogs (kids were a future thought at the time). But, I had the largest income. Rather quickly, things fell into place. I accepted a job in May, found a house in June, moved in August. Aaron stayed in Bend to work a little longer, but he quickly found a job (in a jobless market no less) within the first week after he moved over.
After a miscarriage/false pregnancy in the summer of 2009, Aaron and I were weary about trying for children. We also had to think about the maternity leave at a new job, whether it was best for our situation. After months, we were blessed with Blazer in September 2010. He was a miracle, a light of life, and a wonderful addition to our family. When Blazer was 9 months old, Aaron was laid off from his job. Unemployment kept us just under the surface, and ultimately we filed bankruptcy later in the year. We moved into Tillamook from Rockaway Beach to save on gas and rent. Then, that fall, we made two hard choices. The bankruptcy was the first, but Aaron and I agreed the next best decision was for him to go back to school.
Aaron started college in the fall of 2011 after being a stay-at-home dad with Blazer. He hadn't attended school since his 10th grade year in high school. There were so many unkowns with his financial aid, scheduling daycare, and surviving. BUT, he is amazing. His financial aid came through, he realized just how incredibly intelligent he is, and we began to truly thrive in the Tillamook area. We had prayed so much in the three years that lead up to Aaron's return to his schooling - and we were not short on our blessings. Our family was thankful and blessed. And the blessings kept coming...
I found out I was pregnant with our daughter, Faith, in October 2011. Blazer gave us so much light, and we knew Faith would just add another wonderful piece to our family. In January 2012 Aaron applied for scholarships to pay for his next year at Tillamook Bay. To our surprise and excitement, he was selected as a finalist for the Ford Family Foundation Restart Scholarship, meant for students who met adversity and returned to education with a purpose. Aaron succeeded through the interview process (42 scholarships were given out of 565 applicants) and was awarded up to a $90,000 scholarship - paying for 90% of tuition and daycare expenses through his first year of graduate school. We both couldn't believe it -- and we were cautiously awaiting a point when our blessings would eventually be balanced with adversity.
After Aaron's scholarship success, we again had to think about our options. He had the ability to continue in higher education, become a teacher, and start making the difference he has dreamed about for a long time. I was part of a staff at the Junior High whom I adored, and I loved my job. We had a wonderful daycare. Aaron didn't want to take our family away from a place where we were finally finding our way. But I couldn't make him give up what he ultimately had dreamed about, that redeeming point in his life when he was proud of himself and his accomplishments. This was something we had to do, and we both felt it. We decided I would resign and take our family to Eugene, where Aaron would attend the UO as and undergrad and eventually earn his M.Ed and teaching certificate in English and History.
And this brings us to this summer. A summer of uncertainty and trials of self-doubt. Did we make the right choice? Did we follow the right path? Are we going to regret our decisions that have brought us here? When in doubt, we prayed. The odds of me finding a teaching job in the Eugene area were slim. The job market for teachers just isn't what it was even five years ago, budgets and all. We had a plan for me to sub whenever I could. I applied to every job I was qualified for, part-time, full-time, temporary, etc. Things were looking bleak. Aaron and I came to the realization that this year was probably going to be struggle, but we had to reassure ourselves that we made the right choice. And then, out of nowhere, a job opened up in Elmira at the high school.
An English teacher had resigned after finding a job in administration late in August. Full-time, permanent, high school, MY DREAM JOB. When I became a teacher, high school was my choice. I fell in love with my junior high colleagues and the students, but I always had a craving for high school. I applied. The connections that were made before my interview on my behalf, unknown to me before my interview, were just too coincidental. The pieces that had to fall into place for this to all work out carried even worse odds than the Beavers winning the Civil War in football this year. I interviewed and felt wonderful, like a sweetness in my chest and heart that was reassuring and exciting. A few hours after my interview, on a Thursday before a Monday start, I was offered the job.
THIS. IS. UNBELIEVABLE. I'm not sure what constitutes miracles in your lives, but this is a miracle. I cried. Aaron and I both did. This just doesn't happen. Good things, like what has come to be in the last 5 years, just don't happen to people consistently. We are thankful for all the blessings we have received. Aaron and I are in such awe of all of the things that had to fall into place. The house we found to rent, we were approved in minutes and moved in two weeks later (we feared our bankruptcy would get in the way). We found an amazing in-home daycare just down the street. I have a job. I. HAVE. A. JOB. I can continue doing what I LOVE, and our family is going to be just fine. We're going to survive.
I know not everyone believes in something bigger than all of us. That sometimes you have to make your own destiny, and fate is just a result of that. But too many times, too many things, too many situations have shown us that something bigger is at work here. The choices we have made have been carefully selected, and guided with instinct that holds power beyond our own choosing. We are thanking each and every day for what we have. Aaron and I look at one another, together for 11 years (married for 6 on Sept. 8, 2013), incredibly and completely in love and happy...and all we can muster is "Wow."
WOW.
Night folks.
