On Sucky Things and Awesome People

Before we left for Arkansas, I had hoped to have an interview scheduled with a school to get rehired for this fall. Naturally, they scheduled the interviews while I was away. And of course I found this out during our layover the day we left Portland. (This is the point in which I give a bewildered look up to God and foolishly question his timing.) My options were to fly home five days early or have a phone interview. If I flew home early, I would miss visiting the Haines completely. If I had a phone interview, I felt my chances of getting the job would drop significantly.

I took the phone interview. I know that I want to always choose to invest in my relationships over investing in my career, status, and money (a lesson learned from my dad and Jesus). And wouldn’t this be the perfect time to say AND LOOK! I GOT THE JOB AFTER ALL! Only I didn’t.

But I can say that I don’t regret that phone interview at all. Sure, I might have gotten the job had I flown back earlier, but I’ll never know. The only thing I’d know is that I missed my sweet, sweet time with Amber and Seth and their three fantastically adorable boys. They are my soul family. When I met Seth eight years ago, he said I’d love his new wife. AND OH MY. If there were a way to bottle Amber up and keep her with me always, I would have done it a loooooooong time ago. She is one of the very best people in my life. And together, Amber and Seth are some of the greatest Jesus-loving people I’ve ever known. It is a huge treat to spend a week with them.

The day I found out I didn’t get the job could have been awful. I imagine if I were in Portland at the time, I would have simply stayed in bed eating chocolate covered pretzels until Matt got off work, in which I'd pretend I'd been productive, only the crumbs and chocolate stains would have given me away. It’s pretty impossible to stay sad with Isaac, Jude, and Ian, though. Those boys put some Jesus straight into my soul with their simple words, silly giggles, and cuddly hugs. Even the littlest people can have a big impact.

Overall, I had the best time with the Haines crew. We laughed a lot, we were honest and ourselves, we ate and drank well, we encouraged and prayed, and we lived fully. I think that’s the way Jesus wants it.