Continued Blessings

I got a phone call from Human Resources this morning and there is a FACS job for me at Castle Rock Middle School! It is definitely through January and possibly through the end of the year. This is such a HUGE blessing! The odds of this happening were SOOO small. The only bad news is that we have to cancel our trip to Mexico and our trip to MD to help my mom move. We are planning a weekend getaway to San Diego. We leave (hopefully!) on Thursday! My first day is August 4th... less than 2 weeks! I am feeling a little overwhelmed, especially since I haven't taught middle school since my student teaching in 2005. But I am incredibly excited! Teaching is my passion and I am so thankful to be able to teach for at least the next 6 months. It is such a good reminder that God cares about the little things.

Melissa's Job

I had a meeting today with HR to discuss what this next year is going to look like for me. In the original plan, I was taking a one year leave of absence with the guarantee of my same job when I come back for the 2011-2012 school year. In this plan, I was going to get paid out all of my sick days, get 6 weeks maternity leave, and health insurance for 12 weeks. Normally, I would not get all of this but since I was doing them a favor, they made exceptions for me. (I would tell all the details of how I am doing them a "favor" but that gets complicated.) Essentially, I would get a full-time paycheck for just over 3 months and not have to show up... GREAT deal for me!

Obviously, the situation has changed drastically so I had no idea what to expect when I went in there today. They can't give me my regular job back because someone else has already been hired for the position on a one year only contract (this we already knew). As a result, my best bet is to sub for the year. If a FACS job comes up, I will have first dibs but since that is not likely to happen, I will be subbing. Subs make GREAT money in our school district ($150 a day) so financially, this is an awesome option. Also, the school district is sticking with the original plan so I will still be getting paid for all of my sick days, maternity leave, and get 12 weeks of health insurance. WOW! I am so thankful that they are willing to stick with our agreement even though they don't have to. I can't start subbing until my maternity leave is up (sometime in early October) so what's my plan until then? Iwill probably get a retail job at the Gap Outlet in Castle Rock or the Gap at Park Meadows mall (where I worked when I first moved to Colorado and was waiting for my teaching job to start). Oh and I still get my regular job back for the next school year. :)

Even though this next year looks NOTHING like what we had planned, we are so thankful for how God is already providing for us. For those of you that prayed for this job situation, THANK YOU! This is definitely the best case scenario for a terrible situation.

Update

I thought I would give a brief update since everyone has been wondering how we are doing. We are doing as well as can be expected at this point. We are trying our best to live life as normally as possible. Melissa rejoined the gym and has spent a lot of quality time with friends during her summer off. She is also planning to go to Maryland to help her mom move sometime in August or September. Tyson is planning a vacation to Mexico that we hope to take in August.

Many people have also asked what Melissa is going to do this next school year since she took a leave of absence to stay home with the baby. As of right now, the leave of absence cannot be rescinded. She has a meeting with HR and the benefits department next Thursday to go over our options. It looks like she will have to sub for the year. Fortunately, her job is guaranteed for the 2011-2012 school year.

We are so thankful for the dozens of cards and letters we have received. Again, we are humbled by people's generosity. Thanks for your continued prayers and support.