And another chapter ends...

In June, Daniel and I were thinking we'd be with JCS for at least another two years or longer. Now, four months later, Daniel just finished his last day at JCS and will be starting a new job on Tuesday. How'd we get from there to here? It happened gradually...

At the end of the school year, we both agreed that Daniel would need some help in administration if he was going to make it another year. Since we've been here, there have always been two education administrators, and usually a secretary. However, last year Daniel was the only one. He was doing the job of two admins, plus a secretary (he had none), plus trying to work on accreditation (ACSI suggests hiring someone full-time for that job alone). So, he was pretty overwhelmed. To our excitement, someone applied for a teaching job at JCS who was way over-qualified and had been a superintendent. As a result, the thought came up that this person could do the director role, and Daniel could take on the secondary-admin job (which is what he wanted to do in the first place). We were happy with this, as it meant less stress (which was super important with a newborn coming!).

However, things did not take that route. The person who would have come down to be the director discovered that he needed heart surgery and, as a result, could not come. After being excited about Daniel taking on less responsibility, it was difficult to think about him picking it back up with no assistant administrator to help him. On top of that, several questionable decisions were made with which Daniel did not agree. Finally, we realized that he could no longer continue in the director role. He announced his resignation in August but agreed to stay on for the beginning of the school year to help with the transition. Meanwhile, we began to pray about what God wanted us to do next.

In the midst of this, Timmy entered the scene. Though this added extra stress, it also gave us something more important to think about. It reminded us that no matter where God leads us, our family is our primary ministry to Him. He has led us far from where I thought we would go. Instead of becoming more involved in the Dominican community, he has led us to a different type of community. Instead of staying in our beautiful, big (comparatively) house, we will be moving to a house half the size (but with a gorgeous view!). Though at first these things made me anxious, I now have peace remembering that it doesn't matter where we are, or how big (or small) our house is, or what we own. What matters is that we are serving God, first through our family, and then through the place where God has led us.

We would appreciate your prayers during this time of transition for us and for JCS.