Everything Happens for a Reason

As much as this blog is intended to be focused on all things baby, it's hard to ignore that something else in our life has been developing in a HUGE way. Things have continued to develop with Mat's job offer in Iowa. After gathering more information and discussing things, Mat contacted the Provost on Friday with his counter-offer. They did raise his salary and came within $500 of what we were asking for relocation costs. He has accepted the offer to begin teaching in the fall of 09.

We had a special dinner Friday night to celebrate. I won't sugarcoat it, it is a bittersweet celebration for us...more so for me of course. While I am ecstatic about the job itself and what it means for our family and future, I just wish the timing was a little different. It's easier to think that if we could just wait one more year, this would come a lot easier. However, we're of course unable to predict the future. This is such a hard career to get into in the first place and if we passed up this opportunity, who's to say that anything would come along next year or if it did where it might be located.

There's been quite a mixture of tears and excitement regarding this decision. At times I've felt like it was the worst thing possible and then at times I've felt like it was absolutely what was meant to be. I am doing my best to remain faithful to God's plan for our life. I'm sure many may agree or disagree for reasons of their own, but I ask for your continued support and prayers as we know this next year will be a challenging transition for us. I can't help but remember this time last year and just how desperate I was feeling to conceive. I was so anxious for the summer to arrive and IVF to begin. As I was waiting to find out if we were pregnant or not, I can't even tell you how many times I prayed to God for a child and that if He would just grant me a child I would do my absolute best to raise a child that loves and worships Him. I've been given the greatest gift I can imagine. Will it be more difficult to adjust to life as a new mom while trying to find a new job, new house, etc. etc? Of course! I don't doubt that for a second. It scares me to death! But, I will have my child, I'll have a husband that has more time to spend with us and can contribute more as a husband and a father, and I will have God watching over us so therefore I know that we WILL get through it. It will be hard, it will be emotional, but we will persevere.

While the Iowa winters sound far from ideal, the good thing about Iowa is that it would put us within a weekend drive to both of our families and many friends. It's nice to know that we'll be able to share more time with family and that they'll be able to play a bigger part in Mathew's life during the next few years. We've also read many great things about the town, Dubuque, where Mat's job will be. It's rated very highly for young couples, raising a family, and an extremely low crime rate. It sounds like summers and fall will be beautiful and offer a fair amount of things to do and winters will be harsh. Neither of us is looking forward to the cold, but hopefully it's something that we'll adjust to or at least just grin and bear it for a few years.

We don't count on Iowa as a long term location for us. Of course you never know, but the plan is for Mat to gain some teaching experience and complete his doctorate. After both of those, he will be much more marketable and will be able to apply at many more colleges and hopefully have a little more choice as to where to go. He's already promised that I get full reign of choosing our next destination, so no fear my Florida friends-we just might be back before you know it! Because we won't have to move until the end of this summer and we obviously have a lot happening before then, we've agreed to keep the attention and focus on Mathew's arrival for now. I don't want his birth and welcoming into our family to be any less special because of us being distracted or worried about the future. In fact, Mat will now get to use the rest of his vacation time when Mathew is born, so we're already looking forward to that time together with our son.

We're not too hopeful, but I'm still holding out for a slight chance that something else could come up locally. Mat has applied with USF-Lakeland as a finance professor. Because it's such a large school the applicant pool is sure to be much larger, but you never know. Being offered the same job but not having to move would be ideal in so many ways. I'm continuing to pray over it, and am not giving up hope, but trying to be realistic at the same time....remembering that everything happens for a reason.

In spite of all the drama regarding this decision, I am extremely proud of Mat. He always does amazingly well at interviewing and seems to have impressed so many at Loras College. Of course I think "Professor Keyes" has a nice ring to it as well! I know he's often daydreamed of what it might be like to even have a chance at a job like this, much less actually get the job. I know it will be an adjustment for him to learn the ropes of college teaching, but I think he'll do very well at it!

I'm not exactly sure what the future will hold as far as my job goes. I'll be praying that the right opportunity arises. Dubuque, Iowa is very close to both Illinois and Wisconsin so there are many school districts for me to look into. I've found a college job myself at a nearby university in Illinois that I plan on applying for. It sounds really interesting to me and I have the qualifications needed so you never know! If we could just sell our house here I could consider staying home with Mathew for a little while, but I'm not too optimistic about that working out.

A lot is left to be determined. We really don't know where we'll live, where I'll work, etc. It's going to take a leap of faith. It's doing a number on my maternal nesting instinct right now and that is frustrating. For now though I'm remembering that it's at least 6 months away from when we'd move and only 6 weeks away from when our son will arrive. I have a feeling when I hold that little baby in my arms, the rest of the issues will seem far less concerning.

So, if you're still awake and reading this after my much needed Iowa venting-thank you. We know so many of you have prayed for us. We've been met with tears of joy, tears of sadness, a mixture of both and everything in between and we fully understand. It's bittersweet, but after all, the title of this blog is "Our Winding Road," for a reason. Mat and I have never been ones to stay content in one place for an extremely long amount of time. We do both enjoy trying new things and see where life leads us. Moving is hard on a marriage and making a move like this will no doubt probably the hardest one yet. But I feel extremely blessed that even though we might not always see eye to eye, we're always able to communicate and come out closer in the end. Mat knows that this is really hard for me right now and he's doing his best to let me know how appreciative he is. He agrees that I can make his "Honey Do List" much longer once we are living in Iowa. :)