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Ok, maybe my post title is a bit dramatic… But this is a major change for our family and especially me personally…
Josh and I have been contemplating our next steps concerning my “career” for a while now. Expecting a second baby will do that to you. Back in the spring, we decided that I need to reduce my hours and stress level, for my sake and the baby's. The Southbrook leadership gracious allowed me to go to part-time and work from home. That allowed me to take Jonathan out of daycare and begin homeschooling him – as you've read here on our blog.
Anyway, this arrangement with Southbrook was designed to be short-term. Josh and I decided a several weeks ago that I needed to phase out of my postion sooner rather than later, but we weren't completely sure of the timing. Finally, we felt that the right timing was last week. So, I after staff meeting I met with Pastor Greg. As I was ready to share my heart and next steps, he was also ready to share from the Southbrook side that they needed to lay me off. Wow. I think most people would have been upset but Josh and I really saw this as confirmation of God's timing. As with most ministries and churches, Southbrook giving is down and the leadership is continually having to make tough decisions and find ways to cut costs. So, it was determined that my last day would be Friday, August 20.
I hate that the staff is having to take on responsibilities that were part of my job. It is hard leaving the place where I've spent over five years and really “grew up” so to speak. I'm so going to miss working with my coworkers on a daily basis. And my volunteers… I cannot even begin to tell you how amazing you are and how much I'll miss working with you.
At the same time, I'm so thankfully to have this opportunity to be home with my boys. I'm thankful to have some down time to prepare for Jacob's arrival in 9+/- weeks. (Yes, that is our name pick… we've been trying it out for many weeks. Unless we change our minds last minute, that is his name.) I'm so excited to spend more time focusing on Jonathan's education. This is a big year for him. How well Jonathan does this year with me in homeschooling and where his comprehension level is will determine whether we spend another year taking it easy or whether we start Kindergarten next fall, a year early for his birthdate.
So, for me, I guess this is really the end of an era. But more importantly, it is the beginning of a new one. New challenges. New opportunities. We'd appreciate your prayers as we make this transition. Being very open with you, it is going to be very difficult to live on just Josh's income and we're already being tested. We've had health insurance issues and car repair issues just since taking this leap of faith last week. We've also seen God's blessings and provision through unexpected gifts and ways to reduce our expenses. Someone even sent $150 in cash to us late last week – no idea who. (Whoever you are, thank you! We decided to use part of that money to take Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University online so we'd be better prepared to deal wisely with our finances. Thank you!)
Thank you Southbrook for a great 5 years!
Thank you to Josh for doing everything that you can to take care of our family so I can focus on this great calling of being an excellent wife and mother!
