Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Nothing to Bitch About

While we still haven't heard any word back from New England School (NES), where Hubby has verbally accepted a tenure-track job in his field, I am not complaining. I did find out yesterday that campus visits have been scheduled for the tenure-track position in my field at the same school, so the chances aren't great that they'll suddenly throw me in the mix for that one.

However, last Friday I received a request for additional materials from a school in Awesome Nearby Town (think chowder). The position I applied for wasn't tenure-track, but a Lecturer of Writing position, and the school's Writing Program is wicked intense. I've never seen one so extensive! They have requirements at the freshman and junior-level, and the courses cover several disciplines. The school actually has two spots open, so I'm cautiously hopeful at this point. The thing is, this would be a ridiculously amazing town to live near! And, even though it's only a lecturer position, it would be a fantastic university affiliation to have. Based on what I've seen on their web page, they don't use part-time lecturers or adjuncts. Rather, it looks like, because there are lots of people who are attracted to the area, the school is able to get very well-qualified PhDs (most of whom do not have rhet/comp backgrounds) to fill the lecturer spots, and these positions are renewed as long as the person is doing a good job.

Although I was disappointed to hear about the tenure-track job at Hubby's school falling away as an option, I'm not complaining. We're moving to a great area, where there are probably more schools per square inch of state than anywhere I can imagine. I'm also trying to take a piece of advice from this , which makes a good point about the importance of giving up things other than food (or Facebook, chocolate, coffee, etc.) for Lent. It seems like giving up complaining, bitterness, judgment, and worry would make for much more meaningful sacrifices. I also found the timing of my reading this piece more than coincidental.

You see, by the time Hubby went for his interview in New England Town (NET), I'd given up praying that he'd "get the job." That doesn't mean I didn't pray...I did. I prayed for him to do well, be his best, most confident self during his campus visit. But I didn't pray that he'd get the job. Instead, I gave it all up to God. Really and truly, I just stopped worrying about it and instead found solace in knowing that He has everything under control. I don't know what the future holds for us (not everything anyway), but I know that worrying about every possibility isn't getting me anywhere. It was shortly after this when Hubby got the news about the job. Coincidence? Who knows. All I know is that I have nothing to complain about. I have healthy kids, a new adventure ahead of me, and we're going to DisneyWorld in July! We've secured a real estate agent to help us find a home in our new area, and we've already been pre-qualified for a mortgage (both of these things are good to have in the pocket). Everything else will work out somehow...

1 comment:

feMOMhist said...

congratulations on a possible solution to the vexed two-body problem. I made some major sacrifices to do it, but it has all worked out well! Fingers crossed for Chowder town.