"When you reach a fork in the road, take it!"

I haven't blogged much at all, recently, mainly because I feel like life has been traveling so fast lately.  I'm not sure where to start but wanted to get down how much our life has completely changed over the last several weeks... here goes....

The van...
About three weeks ago we had Matt's family over to our house to grill out.  Since we wanted the driveway to be open for play, we parked out 2005 Toyota Sienna minivan in the street.  We've had this van for a little over a year and rarely park it in the street.  Anyways, at 5:30 the following morning, Matt and I (and TT) were in our bed, awake since our little man was not interested in sleeping.  All of a sudden, we heard a noise outside that I originally thought was a small bomb exploding in our front yard (not sure why my mind went there, but I want you to know how loud it was!).  I told Matt that I was sure a bomb just exploded (and by this time I had convinced myself that I saw fire) and Matt needed to hurry and check it out.  He runs to the living room, runs back into our bedroom, grabs his phone and his coat, and runs outside.  I was now convinced of my original thought.  When I got to the living room, I realized that somone had ran smack into the back of our van, his air-bags had blown, and the driver was sitting still in his car.  To make a long story short, the 40+ year old man, who lives a block down the street, had been called into work that morning.  He dropped his cell phone on the floor and when he reached to grab it, ran straight into our van, never hitting the breaks.  He was okay... our van was not.  A week later we found out our van was considered totaled and Matt got online and looked for a new ride for our family.  We were tempted to get something a little pricier than what we had (since the insurance company gave us more than we thought they would) but we ended up finding a 2000 Sienna in Minnesota.  It's a bit older and has a few less perks, but we feel very blessed that we just erased the van debt that we originally had, making our monthly checks stretch farther... which we will continue to need as I just resigned from my job...

Matt's Career Change...
Matt was not looking to change where he worked.... He loves our church and so do I.  He was approached a couple of months ago by a friend of our, Sam Deines, who works at a company called CBE.  They were in the process of creating a new position at their company and she thought Matt would be a great candidate.  CBE is a debt collecting company, and Sam is head of the 'Organization Development' department.  CBE is very dedicated to developing the employees of the company to be better employees, but more importantly, better people.  The new hire would train the supervisors of the debt collectors according to these two values (I may or may not be explaining this perfectly).  At first, Matt and I both thought that there was no way he would make this jump, but he wanted to go through the interview process anyways.  After being 'in' the company a few times, Matt began to get excited about what they had to offer him, and potentially what he could offer them.  He wasn't quite sure what God would do with him there, but he new he would grow like crazy and be challenged in many ways.  To make another long story somewhat shorter, Matt and I stayed up many nights going back and forth between his two options.  If Matt stayed at Naz he would most likely step into more of a 'leadership development' role... something he has been wanting to do there for a very long time.  He was (and still very much is) excited about the direction our church is heading and felt he and the other leaders could compliment each other well.  One day Matt was so very excited about staying and Naz and then the next day he new he wanted a change in his life and was excited about his growth working for CBE.  His interviews at CBE went well and he was excited about the offers both places gave him.  He asked for an extension on time since he was having such a hard time deciding.  One day he wanted to stay at Naz... the next he wanted CBE... he was struggling.  Many people were praying for him and he continually prayed that he would make a decision with pure motives.  He said many times that he felt like God could use him both places and whichever decision he made, he could do great things for God's Kingdom.  He had to make a decision last Thursday and I got up and left for work before anyone else had gotten up.  He told CBE he would call them just after10:00 and I got home from work at 10:15.  I walked in the door and said, "Have you called anyone?"  He says, "I still don't know".  He had to make a decision and more time was only going to prolong this back and forth process.  I told him that I felt from everything he had told me, that I felt like he needed to make the move.  I hesitated to even say that, but I had felt that all morning.  I knew he was ready to grow and not that he wouldn't have grown like crazy at Naz, he was excited about what CBE could offer him and how they would push him.  Matt said he felt the same way... He has a hard time closing the chapter in his life at Naz and is very sad not to have the opportunity to work closely with the amazing people on staff at Naz, but he continually looks at me and says how excited he is to start at CBE and how at peace he is with his decision.  He has also felt very at peace leaving Naz in the place they are... strong and growing... and is excited to see how God will use him in his new role there.

My Career Change...
A high priority for Matt and I through this process has been to find a way for me to stay home with my kids full time.  Not that I don't enjoy my job, I just want to be the one raising my kids each day.  I want to eat breakfast with them, plan our day together, and just have a great focus on my family and my home.  Being part time has been a blessing, since I am often home by 10:30 each day, but there are many days where I feel like I am 'part-time-everything'... part time teacher, part time mom, part time house keeper, part time ....  I often felt like I wasn't doing anything 100% and if there's something I want to do 100%, it's raise my kids.  I often felt weird about figuring out where my kids are going and who will be watching them.  I just wanted that to be my job.  Although I'm sure some days will be long and I will have a desire to have a conversation above a 3-year-old level, I am so excited to be home.  With that said, I have tried to be sensitive to moms around me who don't have this opportunity or choose a different lifestyle for their family.  Matt and I have decided to give this a whirl and I have learned throughout my mom-hood that I make no judgement on any other mom.   We may have still been able to do this while Matt worked at the church, but it was a for sure deal if he took the job at CBE.  Therefore I turned in my letter of resignation last week and made it official.  Who knows what is in store for us in the future but we have recently had many months that have proven to us that God provides...

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." pr 3:5-6   ... just praying for a straight path