I have a Big Life Decision coming up—well, both me and the hubby do.
The time has come (sorta) for me to decide one way or another if I’m going to quit teaching after this year or not.
The question is not whether or not I want to (I do), but more one of logistics–will Matt have a full-time job with benefits by the time the end of August rolls around?
His current job situation started as a part-time gig at a relatively new company and has turned into a 30+-hours-a-week thing. Depending on how the company continues to grow, there’s a chance that they could very well want to hire him on full-time in a few months. Since we respect the company and believe in its products and overall philosophy, it would be a great fit for the next several years if the job works out.
However, as anyone dealing with a new business knows, that’s a very big IF.
In the meantime, I realize that if my school wants the best chance of replacing me with a highly qualified teacher, they need to start looking right about now (since that’s usually when the most highly qualified candidates are looking for jobs and getting snatched up). I’ve grown to love my school, and I want my replacement (if I am indeed being replaced) to be a good fit for the school and an excellent teacher for the students.
Trouble is, do I put in my official quitting notice now, in order to give my school the best possible chance to hire someone great? Or do I hold off on the decision until a few months have panned out, leaving us in a better position to judge what the future will likely hold and allow us the safety net of knowing that at least one of us has a job with access to insurance?
The past week or so, I’ve been leaning towards just taking the plunge and sending in my official notice–I feel like if we keep my job as a safety net, we won’t push ourselves to look as hard for other options for our family, like Matt looking into a different job possibly or me looking to do part-time work closer to home or us looking to relocate. If we keep our safety net, we won’t be pushed to see where life takes us and to explore all the possibilities this decision would open up, and we may not be closer to our goal of having me be a stay-at-home mom.
The risk of sending in my notice opens up all those possibilities, and I’m trying to assure myself that no matter what happens, both Matt and I have college degrees, lots of good work experience, and faith in God that everything will work out for our good in the end if we just pursue the path we think is best.
In the meantime, I’ve been pondering this as a good inspiration for taking a leap of faith into the unknown:
“If I were to wish for something, I would wish not for wealth or power but for the passion of possibility, for the eye, eternally young, eternally ardent, that sees possibility everywhere.” – Soren Kierkegaard
What would you do in our position? Go for broke and take a big risk? Or keep the safety net?
