And I can't even think a of a good post title for this exciting post, but oh well!
I'm sure by now you've heard the good news our family received yesterday about Matthew's job offer in Georgia. I thought I'd take the time here on my blog to talk about how this all happened. It's just too awesome to not tell.
Matthew's job hunt goes way back, probably at least to January when his graduation started looming ahead of us. After four years of grad school at Yale we were suddenly almost done. Through one of his mentors at the school he was put in contact with an organization who helps put teachers in touch with private schools who need teachers. He specifically was looking for jobs teaching Latin, Bible and/or Greek. Right away he started getting referrals, meaning the organization was sending his resume to schools with openings. Some of the schools were open to him following up, as in sending a cover letter. Matthew estimated yesterday that he had at least twenty referrals over the past few months. Out of those he got maybe five or six first interviews over the phone. Out of those six he got at least three second interviews in person. He went to Baltimore about a month ago to have a second interview with a school there. Around that time he told me he had received a referral for a school in Macon, Georgia. We really couldn't believe it at the time. Since we were keeping ourselves open to any job at this point and trying hard not to be too picky about the location. So a job practically in his home town seemed too good to be true. After he came home from Baltimore he felt really good, so he wasn't rushing on any other jobs at this point. Finally he decided to go ahead and send a personalized cover letter to the school in Georgia. They wrote him back within an hour and asked to interview him over the phone.
It was around this time that he had another school also really interested in him, but in a location we weren't super thrilled about, New Jersey. Things were moving fast and we were feeling really hopeful, although we had no idea where we would end up at this point. He interviewed over the phone with the Georgia school on May 4th. It went really well and they asked him to come down for an interview in person. We were excited, but again we had three jobs on the table and we weren't sure what was going to happen. They scheduled his visit for May 16th, just this past week. On that Wednesday night, the night he arrived in Georgia, he got his official "no" from the school in Baltimore. Oh and that same night he had another phone interview with a school in Houston. Obviously the interview in Georgia went really well. They liked him a lot and it seemed like it would be a great fit for him career-wise. He came home that Friday feeling pretty confident, but not 100% sure he would nail the job.
We spent the whole weekend feeling cautiously optimistic. It was my constant prayer to be excited but hold onto the idea of moving to Georgia lightly. Around Saturday night I was totally overwhelmed by a feeling of peace and calm. It was like I just knew it was already done. I told Matthew, and I'm sure he thought I was completely crazy!
Monday morning (yesterday) I woke up feeling much the same. Matthew took the phone with him to work in case they called. Even though we knew Monday morning would be the absolute earliest we could expect to hear anything. He was told while he was down there that they had another candidate scheduled to come down and interview this week, but they might go ahead and cancel that interview. Apparently that's just what they decided to do and at ten o' clock, just as commencement was beginning, they called to offer him the job. Ironically, he was not walking, but instead at his desk working instead so he was able to take the call. He basically came straight home to tell me in person. I was sitting at my desk doing school with Elijah when I saw our car pull into the driveway. I knew immediately what that meant. And when he walked in the door smiling and holding flowers, I really knew! I'm not too proud to say I cried a little, okay, a lot. Especially when he told me they offered him more than we were expected.
After that it was a whirlwind of phone calls! We had managed to keep this a secret from everyone except our parents on the chance it didn't work out. It was nice to finally let everyone in on our big secret. There was a lot of disbelief though, everyone thought it was simply too good to be true and I have to say I agree.
I just go back to the way I felt last fall, fearful of what the future might hold. I decided then and there to get a handle on that fear and worry the only way I knew how, I gave it over to God. I prayed every day for an extra amount of faith, and He gave me that faith every day. So instead of being a filled with fear every day since this job hunt began, I was filled with faith. I can't say that we didn't have some low and scary moments, because we did. But for the most part, I really feel that God held us up every single day and sustained us. This is certainly a time in my life I won't soon forget.
I'll close this post with "my" verse. This has been my go-to verse for the past ten years whenever I feel troubled and it's certainly proven true, time and time again.
Psalm 27:13-14 "I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of living .Wait for the Lord. Be strong and let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for the Lord."
