Another new chapter on the horizon...

I have some news to share.  It is with great excitement and bittersweet joy that after 8 years in the Administration at Grace Academy, I will not be returning next year.  I get to stay at home and focus on Brandon these last four years that Thomas and I have him at home.  That sentence is so hard to write!  Four more years.  Then Thomas and I are empty nesters.  Certainly not the timeline nor the circumstances we expected to find ourselves in at the age of 44.

The co-workers at Grace have become family.  I have lived life with these people and they are some of the most smart, amazing, crazy, hilarious, talented and God-loving people I have ever been around.  We have done some serious journeying together and while the last three years has been unbelievable time of joy and grief, I am thankful and honored to have been among this group as we have lived through it.  

While I took a year and half off with Amanda during her illness, I never felt like I had ever "officially" left.  Trust me, I walked away from school that Tuesday afternoon with Brandon and Amanda, and the very next day, as we learned the news that there was a mass at the base of Amanda's brainstem, my focused shifted and I never looked back.  They packed my desk for me and picked right up where I had left off without a single word to me of the weight that was shifted that day.  I remember sitting in the waiting room with the ladies from the Admin while we were still in the hospital.  The absolute shock and unbelief of where we were was evident on all our faces, yet the friendship, support and solidarity was stronger than it had ever been. In fact, Amanda loved these ladies so much and had a great relationship with them - she showed off her surgery incision to them.  That was the first time Tom and I had gotten a good look at it ourselves!  They are family. They are friends.  They are dear brothers and sisters in Christ.  The fact that I had the opportunity to come back to work in the office over these last two years means more than words can say.

One of the most amazing, and my favorite, part of working at Grace has been the ability to be close to both kids and see them throughout the school days.  My days over the years have been full of Brandon and Amanda popping in the office for this or that, to say hi, run an errand for a teacher or even share the good news of a grade on an assignment..  seeing Brandon during the day will be one part that I know I will miss.  

One question I am asked is what I am planning to do next.  My answer for now is to simply take care of my family and myself.  I don't know what the future holds for me, but being the mom and wife God wants me to be will be my primary goal.  We don't have our children for long, and that is something we know all too well, so my heart is full of joy with the thought of spending more time with Brandon and Thomas.

I'm sure that these next four years will be full of adventures and I look forward to all that is in store for us in this next chapter of our lives!