Now, this is the story...
all about how my life got flip-turned upside down, and I'd like to take a minute, just sit right there...
WHEW! What a whirlwind the past week has been!! This post is looooong, so I'll give you the abridged version FIRST, just in case you don't want to stick around for the rest: Apparently, I live in Nashville now.
If you've read this blog in the past 9 months, or had any sort of face-to-face interaction with me, you probably know that I have been hoping to move to Nashville for some time. I started applying for jobs & sending out resumes in the spring, and then had a long period of waiting and SILENCE. Then I got 2 "thanks, but no thanks" letters within a week, then more silence. Mid-July I decided that I should go to Nashville to try to meet some principals face-to-face, so I emailed a couple of principals who had recent (new) open position listings on their system's website. I got one very abrupt "the position is already filled" response, and more silence from the other. I decided I'd still come, but had resigned myself to the fact that it just wasn't going to happen. At midnight, the night before mom and I flew to Nashville, I emailed 7 more principals in a county nearby who all had open positions posted. Then, on Wednesday morning at 4:30, mom and I drove to RDU to catch our flight.
Wednesday:
Our flight to Nashville was broken into 2 parts, and when mom and I landed in Chicago, I turned on my phone to 2 voicemails from Emily saying (basically), "BJ just texted me. There is an open position at his new school. Apparently they're desperate," and, "Ok I just talked to BJ. They need a 5th grade Science and Social Studies teacher. He'll text me the info so you can email the principal ASAP." I called her back, she filled me in, and it was wheels-up to BNA.
As soon as Mom and I got to our hotel in Nashville, I emailed the principal at BJ's school. Within an hour I got a response - she wanted to know if I could come in at 9:00 the next morning for an interview! THEN, I got a response from one of the principals I had emailed the night before - she wanted me to come in for an interview! I was going to both, but praying that the Lord would make my decision very CLEAR.
Thursday:
I went to the interview at BJ's school, had a great conversation with the principal and assistant principal, and was offered a job on the spot! They asked me if I had any other interviews, and I told them I did - I was actually heading there next. They said, "Oh darn! Well, they will probably like you just as much as we do, and will probably offer you a job too! Just let us know either way." I said I would, and was really hoping that I wouldn't like the other principal (or something) because I really thought this school was the one for me! I got to the other school, and after about 15 minutes of talking to the principal she said, "Well, I don't have an opening right now. I just wanted to meet you since you were in town this week." ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! Talk about a clear decision! Thank you Lord! I got back in the car, called the first school, and accepted the job! I then proceeded to cry for the rest of the day because HOLY JUNK I AM MOVING! Like RIGHT NOW! I was NOT mentally prepared for this. Or any other sort of prepared, for that matter.
Friday:
The principal at my new school reeaaaallllly wanted me to start work on Friday because "meet the teacher" was that night. Luckily, I had to be fingerprinted, background checked, and cleared by central office before I could go to work! Friday consisted of more tears because freaking out.
Saturday:
Mom and I flew back to RDU, and when we arrived in Goldsboro I immediately started packing. Ok that's a lie. Hadley and Bennett came over so I picked up Anna Bennett when they came through the door, and didn't put her down until it was time for them to go home. Then I started packing. Dad and I went to my storage unit and put all of my school stuff, and as many "teacher clothes" as I could put my hands on, in my car. I got most of my clothes packed in suitcases, and we headed over to MaMa's to spend the night. (Our house got struck my lightening and fried the AC units - that's a whole 'nother story.)
Sunday:
We got my car packed the rest of the way, I cried a lot more, and Dad and I hit the road to drive to Nashville!
Monday:
I finally was able to get fingerprinted, go to the school, and get all of my school boxes out of my car and into my classroom. This didn't happen until about 2:30 though, so I really didn't even get that much done that day. I did get to meet some of the 5th grade team, and they were all SO nice!
Tuesday / Wednesday:
The past 2 days have been filled with meetings, with a little bit of time to work in my room. My head is SPINNING! Everyone keeps asking me if I'm OK, and all I can say is, "I will be for Friday. I'll figure the rest out later." Friday is the first day of school - a half day. OHMIGOSH. I'm freaking out.
Y'all. There are a few times in my life where I can see the Lord's hand SO clearly in a situation while it's happening. This is one of them. Of course there are tons of times where I see his hand hindsight, but it has been SO clear this past week! I mean, this job WASN'T EVEN POSTED ONLINE! I would never have known about it! It is so obvious that this is where the Lord has placed me, and I just have to have faith now that He will make the rest fall into place as well - because I'm currently homeless. (Thanks to Emily who is letting me be her temporary roommate!) My biggest prayers right now are for a living situation in which I'm not a gypsy, and that I would settle in to this school year smoothly. I am not a Science person. I'm not terrible at it, but it just isn't my strong suit like Social Studies is (and Reading was). I am praying for POSITIVE relationships with the parents of my students, and the ability to get things accomplished in a timely manner at school. (I know that expectations for teachers here are high, and I have heard that things can be a bit fast-paced.) Really though - I need a roommate, or roommates. I am praying for awesome girls who need someone to fill an empty spot!
Thanks for sticking with me through this long post, and all of my talk about Nashville during the trying-to-get-here stage. And also, thanks to those of you who are praying for me, and alongside me!
WHEW! What a whirlwind the past week has been!! This post is looooong, so I'll give you the abridged version FIRST, just in case you don't want to stick around for the rest: Apparently, I live in Nashville now.
If you've read this blog in the past 9 months, or had any sort of face-to-face interaction with me, you probably know that I have been hoping to move to Nashville for some time. I started applying for jobs & sending out resumes in the spring, and then had a long period of waiting and SILENCE. Then I got 2 "thanks, but no thanks" letters within a week, then more silence. Mid-July I decided that I should go to Nashville to try to meet some principals face-to-face, so I emailed a couple of principals who had recent (new) open position listings on their system's website. I got one very abrupt "the position is already filled" response, and more silence from the other. I decided I'd still come, but had resigned myself to the fact that it just wasn't going to happen. At midnight, the night before mom and I flew to Nashville, I emailed 7 more principals in a county nearby who all had open positions posted. Then, on Wednesday morning at 4:30, mom and I drove to RDU to catch our flight.
Wednesday:
Our flight to Nashville was broken into 2 parts, and when mom and I landed in Chicago, I turned on my phone to 2 voicemails from Emily saying (basically), "BJ just texted me. There is an open position at his new school. Apparently they're desperate," and, "Ok I just talked to BJ. They need a 5th grade Science and Social Studies teacher. He'll text me the info so you can email the principal ASAP." I called her back, she filled me in, and it was wheels-up to BNA.
As soon as Mom and I got to our hotel in Nashville, I emailed the principal at BJ's school. Within an hour I got a response - she wanted to know if I could come in at 9:00 the next morning for an interview! THEN, I got a response from one of the principals I had emailed the night before - she wanted me to come in for an interview! I was going to both, but praying that the Lord would make my decision very CLEAR.
Thursday:
I went to the interview at BJ's school, had a great conversation with the principal and assistant principal, and was offered a job on the spot! They asked me if I had any other interviews, and I told them I did - I was actually heading there next. They said, "Oh darn! Well, they will probably like you just as much as we do, and will probably offer you a job too! Just let us know either way." I said I would, and was really hoping that I wouldn't like the other principal (or something) because I really thought this school was the one for me! I got to the other school, and after about 15 minutes of talking to the principal she said, "Well, I don't have an opening right now. I just wanted to meet you since you were in town this week." ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! Talk about a clear decision! Thank you Lord! I got back in the car, called the first school, and accepted the job! I then proceeded to cry for the rest of the day because HOLY JUNK I AM MOVING! Like RIGHT NOW! I was NOT mentally prepared for this. Or any other sort of prepared, for that matter.
Friday:
The principal at my new school reeaaaallllly wanted me to start work on Friday because "meet the teacher" was that night. Luckily, I had to be fingerprinted, background checked, and cleared by central office before I could go to work! Friday consisted of more tears because freaking out.
Saturday:
Mom and I flew back to RDU, and when we arrived in Goldsboro I immediately started packing. Ok that's a lie. Hadley and Bennett came over so I picked up Anna Bennett when they came through the door, and didn't put her down until it was time for them to go home. Then I started packing. Dad and I went to my storage unit and put all of my school stuff, and as many "teacher clothes" as I could put my hands on, in my car. I got most of my clothes packed in suitcases, and we headed over to MaMa's to spend the night. (Our house got struck my lightening and fried the AC units - that's a whole 'nother story.)
Sunday:
We got my car packed the rest of the way, I cried a lot more, and Dad and I hit the road to drive to Nashville!
Monday:
I finally was able to get fingerprinted, go to the school, and get all of my school boxes out of my car and into my classroom. This didn't happen until about 2:30 though, so I really didn't even get that much done that day. I did get to meet some of the 5th grade team, and they were all SO nice!
Tuesday / Wednesday:
The past 2 days have been filled with meetings, with a little bit of time to work in my room. My head is SPINNING! Everyone keeps asking me if I'm OK, and all I can say is, "I will be for Friday. I'll figure the rest out later." Friday is the first day of school - a half day. OHMIGOSH. I'm freaking out.
Y'all. There are a few times in my life where I can see the Lord's hand SO clearly in a situation while it's happening. This is one of them. Of course there are tons of times where I see his hand hindsight, but it has been SO clear this past week! I mean, this job WASN'T EVEN POSTED ONLINE! I would never have known about it! It is so obvious that this is where the Lord has placed me, and I just have to have faith now that He will make the rest fall into place as well - because I'm currently homeless. (Thanks to Emily who is letting me be her temporary roommate!) My biggest prayers right now are for a living situation in which I'm not a gypsy, and that I would settle in to this school year smoothly. I am not a Science person. I'm not terrible at it, but it just isn't my strong suit like Social Studies is (and Reading was). I am praying for POSITIVE relationships with the parents of my students, and the ability to get things accomplished in a timely manner at school. (I know that expectations for teachers here are high, and I have heard that things can be a bit fast-paced.) Really though - I need a roommate, or roommates. I am praying for awesome girls who need someone to fill an empty spot!
Thanks for sticking with me through this long post, and all of my talk about Nashville during the trying-to-get-here stage. And also, thanks to those of you who are praying for me, and alongside me!
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