Back to work I go. . .

So as most of you know, our family has been recovering from unemployment this past year. When Jhonny decided to become a teacher, I knew things would be tough financially. I felt like this was a good decision for him anyway. It has been a good year for him. I've been working as much as possible as a substitute and homebound teacher which has been good, but not without it's sacrifices.
It's been a year since I've had health insurance and Jhonny's insurance was not really useful either. So the more I prayed about our situation, the more I felt like the only option was for me to go back to work for real. I have already been gone almost full time anyway - but not really being compensated for my time the way I could be.
So I tried interviewing last year in some places, but the situation was never right. Last week I had two really good interviews. One was for a fourth grade teaching position here in town. I felt really good about it. And I would have been happy even though I couldn't understand why I would have been so impressed to go get my masters in counseling if I was just to return to the classroom anyway. But, I felt good about it.
Before the school could get back to me with a decision, I got another call. Round Rock High School's lead counselor called and asked if I'd accepted a job yet. I told her not exactly, but that one was on it's way. She pleaded with me to wait until at least they could interveiw me on Friday. I said, "Okay," knowing that the process from the school here would take longer to get back to me than that. Then by the tone in her voice, I knew I needed to make a decision before the interview if an offer would come and for some reason I felt that it would.
Wow- what a difficult choice to make! Be here close to home and in my daughter's school or travel an hour to and from work and do what I love in a much higher paying district. I started to see some things that I hadn't considered before. If my daughter goes to the elementary down the street, that would be 2 hours of lone time with her each day. The Round Rock hospital is down the street from the school. I don't really know how that would play a part later, but it could be important. This may be the window of opportunity for my children to go to a school district where opportunities are available to them that are not available here in Rockdale - something I have been frustrated about.
Then my nanny said she had felt impressed that by next fall she needed to get an apartment of her own and move out to Round Rock. The thing holding me back was time away from my baby, Gavin. Lily will be attending preschool with her dad next year so I wasn't worried about her. Then the thought came to me that if I were to put him in a day care where my Nanny could get a job, she might be able to afford an apartment of her own and I would know my son was in good hands closer to where I was working. Hmm. It could work and she got excited about the idea.
So, I decided that if I were offered the job, I had better take it or I might not get another opportunity like this.
The interview went AWESOME. I got along really well with the lead counselor. We went throught he same graduate program - cohort with Sam Houston State Univ. with Dr. Judy Neslon - my mentor and professor. She asked if I knew her. I said, "Not only do I know her, worked with and I have a letter of recommendation from her in your hands." She was sold.
The principal was great too. Just the kind of administrator I could work for. They said I could expect to hear from him next week. 30 minutes after the interview, I got a call offering me the job.
I held off for an hour so I could call Jhonny and check in with him. Of course he said,"yes."
When I got home, I checked into things a little more only to discover I had been off on the pay scale and I would actually get 4000 more than I thought. I also discovered that the insurance is probably the cheapest and best in the state for educators. Wow!
I feel so blessed. It has been a long year pinching pennies and trying to stay healthy. I'm feeling relief more than anything and grateful. This job feels like a miracle right now.