Praise God

Remember when I wrote a post a few weeks ago about having the worst day imaginable?  Here's why:

{it's a LONG post but hang in there!}

Long story short:
My school (a private school) was scheduled to close for good over Christmas break.  Meaning, our school would close and never open again.  We were out of a job.  They told us 3 days before Thanksgiving break.  But...on Monday, December 1st they told us the school would stay open until May or longer.

The Breakdown:
A private school is very much like a business and only 60% of our school cost are covered by tuition.  When the economy isn't doing as well parents don't send their kids to private schools and companies and families don't give as many donations.  That's how my school ended up in this situation.

Our faculty, parents, and students were devastated by the news of the closing.  As soon as the parents found out they started an organization to save our school and they did just that!

First, we were on the news and as a result our school was given 51,000 dollars!

Second, all families at our school donated money because they were very concerned about the teachers losing their jobs at the semester.  The parents alone raised 200,000+ dollars!

Third, another family that has given to our school in the past donated around 100,000+ + + dollars!

Fourth, the donations are still pouring in!  It's a miracle really!  We've been on the news now about 5 times total.

My reaction:
When the Head of School sat us all down and told us I sobbed!  Yes, I burst into tears in the middle of a meeting but I wasn't alone in my reaction.  I cried the rest of the day and a good part of the next.  I called Jonathan first, but he didn't answer so I called my mom and was barely able to say, "mom...my school is closing".  I was crying so hard that before I could get the words out she thought something had happened with Georgia.  Luckily, that wasn't the case.

Jonathan and I immediately sat down and redid all of our finances.  (Stressful to say the least with a baby on the way...nursery, dr. bills, and hospital bills!).  We called our bill providers to look into deals and specials to lower our rates.  Our cell phone bill is now down about 30 a month and our Internet/TV is down.  But we still had Jonathan's grad school to pay for...we used my paycheck for that.  So, we sold Jonathan's Jeep.  He loved his Jeep but since we had put so much into it (new wheels and tires, two new tops, and a new sound system) we knew we could make money off of it and we did.  We used part of the money to buy him a cheaper Jeep in cash and put the rest towards his final school payments and to beef up our savings.  Also, since his new Jeep is actually a newer body style our insurance went down...nice!

Do I now regret we did all of this since my school is now staying open...no.  It's nice to save on bills anyway...who wants to pay too much and the Jeep, not really.  His grad school is now paid for, our savings increased, and our insurance went down.

My job future:
Will I finish out the year at my current school...yes.  Will I work there next year...I don't know.  Assuming Jonathan gets an Assistant Principle job I wouldn't need to work but I never knew until a few weeks ago how much of my identity was tied up in my job.  I've always wanted to be a stay at home mom but once that was my only option I felt I was robbed of the choice and now I'm just confused.  I love telling people I teach elementary art...they just "ooo" and "ahh" over the fact that I paint and draw all day for a living.  I love what I do.  I love my students.  And, I LOVE LOVE LOVE my co workers...I really do.

From now until Georgia is born it does make our lives much easier that I will still have a job.  Our worries really did just go away and I always trusted that no matter what happened it was God's plan.  Next year is still up in the air...

But right now, PRAISE GOD my school is open and I'll have my contract paid in full until August!

{Side note:  One sweet student, a tenth grader, when she found out the school was closing she FREAKED out but not why you may think.  Her main concern was ME!  She went home venting to her mom about, "Mrs. Powell is having a baby and now she's not going to have a job!"  She was so concerned she made her mom call the head of the school to get details on my job position specifically!  Oh my gosh!  That is why I love these kids!  They actually have hearts!}