The End of a Matter

We have officially completed our two year contracts in Korea. Wow. It feels like we had just decided to go and were thinking “Two years, huh? Ok…….” and now it’s over! Every time a major life event ends and a new one begins, I am reminded of Ecclesiastes 7:8

Better is the end of a thing than its beginning.

We are stronger in our faith, in our marriage, and have made life-long friendships as well as memories with family, friends, co-workers, and students. We are now ready to move on to our next thing while incorporating the ways we have grown into this new beginning, which will in turn make us stronger for whatever God directs our paths to.

With that being said, we are THRILLED to share with you what this new beginning holds. First, let’s back up a few months. You may remember that In December we turned down offers to remain at BFS for another year. While that was not an easy decision, we were confident that we made a good decision for us, and we began the long and tedious process of applying to jobs.

We also began praying big, specific prayers. We wanted Justin to get a job in Indianapolis, preferably on the north or west side. We wanted him to have a job offer before we got home from Korea. We prayed and prayed. Justin must have applied to nearly 75 school districts in Indiana (thank goodness for consortiums!). We were turning over every rock, whether it was in Indy or not.

In March Justin had his first interview. We were thrilled, but soon became accustomed to hearing from a school, interviewing, and then not hearing back from them when they said we would. As soon as we would start to get frustrated, a new school would contact Justin. This cycle continued for 3 months. The beginning of June came, and it felt like we were in a bit of a lull, and were, admittedly, losing hope to either of our prayers to be answered how we wanted them to be answered. But we knew that wherever Justin got a job, we’d be closer than Korea. We knew that God’s plan is better than ours, and that His timing is perfect, even if it’s not what we wanted. We knew that if God could turn Korea into a real home for us, surely He could do that in a small town in Indiana. 

Then the last weeks of school arrived. We were incredibly busy – finishing up school, packing our apartment, packing our classrooms, and saying some very difficult goodbyes. All of a sudden, Justin had three interviews in two days, and all three of them went well. One of them was in our ideal location, two were not.

We were very hopeful again that we would hear before leaving Korea, but then our last few days came and we even had to shut off our apartment internet, all without hearing anything. We flew to Rome to begin our European vacation. While we were slightly disappointed to not have heard anything yet, we were still hopeful in two of the schools. 

Then June 23rd happened. While in Rome, Justin received TWO job offers that day. Not one, but TWO. After a LOT of phone calls to our parents and a LOT of prayer, the following day Justin officially accepted a teaching position at Vision Academy @ Riverside in Indianapolis! To say we are excited is an understatement.

We hit the ground running when we landed in Chicago on July 6th. Justin has three weeks of orientation and Professional Development starting July 14th, and we have been busy getting a lot sorted the past several days. We are thrilled about all of it though! We have found an apartment and plan to move on July 19th. Please keep us in your prayers, not only as we begin this new adventure and work out all of the logistics, but as we are simultaneously going through reverse culture shock and adjusting to life back in the US.

God is so good. We are blessed among men.

Check out the amazing photography skills of my cousin, Katie. While still in Chicago we had her take our pictures for our 3rd anniversary. Click here to see them. Thanks, Katie!!!!

From now on, you may follow us on our new blog: www.trustwoborders.wordpress.com

Isaiah 12:4

In that day you will say: “Give thanks to the Lord call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted.