nannying, babysitting, and other divine things

long time, no write eh?

not at all because there's nothing to say.  rather, possibly too MUCH to say and little time to say it!

in this past week though, two divinely appointed things have happened with families i'm working with.  here's a three-part background to the stories

first, i interviewed with a family (we'll call them family K) for a summer position.  3 days per week, 33 hours total during those 3 days.  making about twice what i'm making right now at my nanny job.

second, a family (family B-H) that i had already made arrangements with to work for every third weekend contacted me about possibly working one day a week, 3 weeks out of the month, at least for the summer (and yes, this fits in perfectly with the above family's schedule)

third, anthony and i have been really struggling with the idea of finances next fall.  i felt stuck though -- because i'm working for GOOD friends who can't afford to pay me much, i thought the only way i could "leave" them was to go back into the classroom.  and while i'm applying and getting everything together for that possibility, i also know that the cutbacks are happening like crazy in the system i have a relationship with, and in the surrounding counties there are exactly 2 openings that i'm qualified for.  out of 5 counties.  so HUGELY competitive.
and while i could easily get a nanny job that would pay more...i didn't want to have to tell my friends that i was taking a position with another family because of the money!  ya know?  and i certainly didn't want to leave them in a bad position of having to find someone or scramble to find a daycare.

SO.

last friday my friends asked me if i wanted to return to teaching.  i explained that i would like to, but obviously that's a big "if".  they said they were assuming i would want to, and that they knew i had only committed to them for a year.  we chatted about it some, and it turns out that they have found a great daycare/preschool in their new neighborhood that they were considering putting their son in.  and...they didn't want to leave me in the lurch or surprise me with the news.  we basically ended up giving our blessings to each others' plans and i left their house that day absolutely elated that i would be able to pursue a job that paid more for the fall.
(and bonus!  neither of us had to be the "bad guy"!)

monday i got a phone call from the K family that i had interviewed with.  she said "we are SO happy and excited that we've found the perfect person" and we discussed a bit of logisitics such as starting date and payment.  then she paused and said "i wasn't even going to mention this since we wanted to honor your commitment to the other family.  but when we talked with them and they mentioned that they were planning to put their son in school for socialization reasons i wanted to make sure you knew...if you are interested in continuing on with us in the fall we would love to have you do that."

now, it will only be two days a week in the fall, and only with their baby girl.  i told her i would definitely consider it (although they do know that i'm looking into going back to teaching if possible).  part of me, however, was thinking that it would be sort of a pain to try to find a 3 day/week position to fill the gap of time/salary needs.  until she went on to say that they would be happy to try and find another family that i could work with (um, hello?!) and ACTUALLY they know of a family with a 3 week old little boy who will want part time care in the fall as well.

hmmmmm.

i think my fall is "covered".  if i go back to teaching, great.  if not, clearly God has this one handled.  and at at least double the rate i currently make.

but what about that other family?
oh yeah.

s and j are engaged with 2 children under 2 (yikes!).  they live about 20 minutes from me.  their little girl is nearly 2 and their son is 4 months old.  they need me to work every 3rd weekend while they are both working, and 3 mondays a month (the ones not immediately following the weekend i'll be working).

so i knew that they were very kind about saying they wanted to help me honor my church commitments on the weekends i work for them, and said that they loved that it was a priority for me.  other than that, there was no mention of faith, God, church, etc.

but when i did my "preview" day with them wednesday, i got a little surprise.  first, s asked me if i liked reading spiritual things.  i said yes, of course.  he then asked what type of book i enjoyed -- a devotional, a study, biography, general Christian living...
(at this point i got incredibly curious.  clearly he knows what he's talking about...)
after i said that i really enjoy reading a practical life-application book most he said "come here!"
and led me to a bookshelf in their bedroom that is FILLED to the brim with spiritual books.  he even pointed out the author of several volumes (a well-recognized name in many Christian circles) and told me that they named their son after him.

later on in the day he informed me that his daughter's favorite songs are hymns -- that if i sing hymns to her at naptime she will love it.

i love it when God surprises me like that.  with little snippets of Him from unexpected sources!

thank you Papa for divine appointments
for surprises
for little pockets of You in every facet of my life


thank You for the privilege of holding children who are not my own
of loving and nurturing them
of whispering words of Your love over them
of praying for them and speaking life into them


You are such a better job agent
than i could ever hope for
and i am grateful
for every single delightful thing
You bring my way

YOU promote me
i do not have to promote myself
You have established my reputation
You have encouraged others to trust in me


what an honor, privilege and responsibility i have!