Unemployed

Tuesday night was the final Showcase performance that wound up our spring session of classes for our new theater group here in Kenosha!  I was so proud of my teachers and of the kids.  Each class performed so well; every number was entertaining and impressive.  I emceed the evening, and made the announcement to our families that I would not be coming back in the fall.

Afterward, we had a fundraiser/social event at Culver's (a Wisconsin restaurant chain), and many people thanked me for my service and especially for bringing this children's theater organization to Kensoha.  They are so delighted that there is something like this for their kids, and they are enjoying the community aspect themselves.  One teenage girl who is graduating told me how God had used the experience to bring about much growth in her life.  It reinforced to me, once again, what a ministry this program is, and how all my time--and the occasion hassle--has been worth it.

Yesterday, I went out to the home office for my final Area Coordinator's meeting, over an hour away--I've had these meetings every other Wednesday all year long, and though I've always enjoyed them while I was there, I will be glad to have the time back.  It was bittersweet to say goodbye to some of the other AC's and the office staff that I will rarely, if ever, see again.  But it also felt good to turn in my supplies and manuals, and let go of the responsibilities I've carried all year.  I feel God's approval--His "well done, good and faithful servant"--for all I have done this past year.  But now I know He is asking me to shift my priorities and pick up a different weight, the education of my younger three kids, and invest myself in homeschooling them, just as I invested in my oldest three when they were younger.

From a homeschooling standpoint, this past year hasn't been great, and not just because of the part-time job.  It was also the transition to a private school, and the driving that comes with no school buses (about 1.25 hours/day), plus all the homework that clogs up our evenings.  (When they all were homeschooled, we could count on evenings free.)  Primarily I had to let things go for Chicklet and Bantam5.  Bantam11 was able to get through a lot of material on his own, though I would have liked to spend more time with him.  But it actually wasn't a bad year to have invested in the theater group.  Chicklet spent the first half of the year in public school, in first grade, and B5 technically isn't even in kindergarten yet, though he's ready for first grade work next year.  With no job, and hopefully a teenage driver or two by then, I look forward to spending lots more time on education next year!  Having more or less taken this year off from homeschooling may have been a good change for me, as I already feel a renewed interest and enthusiasm.

Today is the last day of school for B15 and Blondechick17, and B19 only has four more days.  But we can't relax into summer yet:  We have grandparents coming to stay, and a graduation party for B19 to host, so we have to clean house...and I mean all the nooks and crannies we've been overlooking for months!  Sometimes we need a reason.

So I'm happily enjoying my unemployment today, in this present moment...thankful for what is past, and looking forward to what is to come!