WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.440 Welcome to the Outnumbered podcast with Joey and Ali, where we talk about our life with our kids, 2 00:00:05.440 --> 00:00:10.960 our jobs, our family, marriage, relationships, things like that. This is episode two. If you're 3 00:00:10.960 --> 00:00:16.160 interested in our story and how we got from being high school sweethearts to outnumbered by three 4 00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:20.880 boys in our house, you can check out episode one. But here's episode two, where we're going to talk 5 00:00:20.880 --> 00:00:25.040 about where we are now, our jobs and our crazy life at home with our three boys. 6 00:00:31.520 --> 00:00:36.000 Let's talk about how we got here. So yeah, last time we talked about kind of our relationship 7 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:43.040 mostly in the first episode, but we don't really talk about our careers because we both work and 8 00:00:43.040 --> 00:00:49.200 have three kids. We both try to work. You work. You try to work. That's true. You're at home 9 00:00:49.200 --> 00:00:52.960 trying to work with the three kids. Yes. Trying to work is a good way of putting it. 10 00:00:53.600 --> 00:01:01.440 Yes. So I'll, let me go first. So my goal was always to work with kids. Even when I was in 11 00:01:01.440 --> 00:01:05.360 high school, I liked working with kids that were younger than me. I would volunteer at youth camps 12 00:01:05.360 --> 00:01:10.480 and things like that in the summer. And so I knew I wanted to be that. So naturally I thought I'll 13 00:01:10.480 --> 00:01:14.800 be a teacher. And I kind of had that year off as we talked about with between high school and 14 00:01:14.800 --> 00:01:18.800 college, because I joined the military. That was just the military part-time. So when I started 15 00:01:18.800 --> 00:01:24.240 going to school, I decided I wanted to be a history teacher. I think mostly I wanted to be 16 00:01:24.240 --> 00:01:31.920 a teacher and then coach and history was the only subject I liked in school and did okay at in 17 00:01:31.920 --> 00:01:35.760 school. So I thought, I guess I'll be a history teacher. In hindsight, I should have been a PE 18 00:01:35.760 --> 00:01:42.480 teacher. That would have been way more fun. I was going to say meal prep, not meal prep. Lesson 19 00:01:42.480 --> 00:01:48.000 planning. Lesson planning. Yes. And grading. Yeah. Like year three of teaching, I was like, 20 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:53.040 why didn't I become a PE teacher? Yeah. Anyway, so I became a history teacher. So I went to school 21 00:01:53.040 --> 00:01:58.800 to do that. Student teaching my senior year, which was the first year of our marriage. I was student 22 00:01:58.800 --> 00:02:04.480 teaching and even student teaching, I really liked it. And I kind of dialed in. I knew I wanted to be 23 00:02:04.480 --> 00:02:09.280 an eighth grade history teacher and I was going to take any job that I could get, obviously. But 24 00:02:11.120 --> 00:02:15.680 that was kind of my goal. I really liked middle school, liked the curriculum for eighth grade 25 00:02:15.680 --> 00:02:20.560 history. And so that's what I wanted to do. And that's the first job I got was as an eighth grade 26 00:02:20.560 --> 00:02:24.240 history teacher. And that was tough. I don't know. Would you say that was a tough year, 27 00:02:24.240 --> 00:02:28.720 first year teaching? Just an adjustment. I think it was just kind of like figuring it out and then 28 00:02:28.720 --> 00:02:32.400 getting to a point where like, this isn't working. You know, we just need to adjust a little bit. 29 00:02:32.400 --> 00:02:39.840 With what do you mean? Like you would just bring home. Oh yeah. Stuff and do grading or whatever. 30 00:02:39.840 --> 00:02:43.440 Yeah. I mean, you had a lot to do. Like it made sense. But also I was like, 31 00:02:44.000 --> 00:02:49.040 so are you ever going to stop doing that? Yeah. No, I remember that really clearly. We were in our 32 00:02:49.040 --> 00:02:53.680 apartment and I think it was because when I was student teaching, we were married and I was just 33 00:02:53.680 --> 00:02:59.120 always doing stuff at home because I was still a student in college. I had college assignments, 34 00:02:59.120 --> 00:03:02.880 but I was also teaching full time. So I was teaching stuff that I was doing. And so then 35 00:03:02.880 --> 00:03:07.440 I just was used to that lifestyle. And then my first job, I just kept doing the same thing. 36 00:03:07.440 --> 00:03:12.240 And I remember I was sitting at the table one night, like working on my lesson for the next 37 00:03:12.240 --> 00:03:16.480 day. And you just looked at me and you're like, you remember, I don't remember exactly what you 38 00:03:16.480 --> 00:03:20.640 said, but you were like, you shouldn't be doing this anymore. Like you work all day, 39 00:03:20.640 --> 00:03:25.920 like don't bring it home. And then it kind of clicked and I was like, Oh, that's a good point. 40 00:03:25.920 --> 00:03:31.440 So I tried my best. I mean, you were, you were creating like a curriculum because you had 41 00:03:31.440 --> 00:03:35.760 nothing. I mean, it was year one. It was, there was definitely a lot to do, but also like, 42 00:03:35.760 --> 00:03:38.960 I didn't see you all day. And then I was like, you were home, but I still didn't see you. 43 00:03:38.960 --> 00:03:41.600 True. I got better at that throughout the years. 44 00:03:41.600 --> 00:03:44.080 Because I think I was like, this isn't going to work. 45 00:03:44.080 --> 00:03:48.240 Yeah. And as I was teaching, I was always looking for coaching opportunities. I loved 46 00:03:48.240 --> 00:03:52.880 coaching and middle school is fun. So you can kind of coach a lot of sports. So at that first 47 00:03:52.880 --> 00:03:57.200 school, I, I taught or I coached wrestling at the high school and the middle school, 48 00:03:57.200 --> 00:04:01.600 and then also cross country, which was fun because that was my first time coaching 49 00:04:01.600 --> 00:04:06.480 girls in a sport because I was used to just coaching like boys wrestling. And I realized 50 00:04:06.480 --> 00:04:10.880 that middle school girls respond differently than middle school. And I was like, I was just 51 00:04:10.880 --> 00:04:14.160 like, yeah, like they're running. And I was like, come on girl. And they looked at me like I was 52 00:04:14.160 --> 00:04:20.160 nuts. And I was like, Oh, sorry. You do your thing. So we spent two years in that school 53 00:04:20.800 --> 00:04:24.800 and then made the decision. And my first year at that school, I was like, man, I'm going to teach 54 00:04:24.800 --> 00:04:29.120 this school for 30 years. I remember thinking that I was like, this is a great school. I liked 55 00:04:29.120 --> 00:04:33.920 the people I worked with, had a good relationship with the principal, but they didn't pay a whole 56 00:04:33.920 --> 00:04:40.240 lot. And so after year two, we, I think we were, no, we never second guess. We just, we had one 57 00:04:40.240 --> 00:04:44.720 kid, but things were starting to get tight and we're like, I don't know if this is sustainable. 58 00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:49.280 We just didn't realize we didn't, we didn't pay attention to that. 59 00:04:49.280 --> 00:04:53.760 So I think we kind of realized that this isn't sustainable. And so I started looking for jobs 60 00:04:53.760 --> 00:04:59.360 in other districts and Lord, I got the first, yeah, Lord was awesome. I got the first one. 61 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:01.920 for, um, in a better district. 62 00:05:01.920 --> 00:05:05.280 And thanks to your pump up song or what, didn't you have a specific interview 63 00:05:05.280 --> 00:05:05.920 pump up song? 64 00:05:05.920 --> 00:05:09.280 I did. I don't remember what it was, but I did, but I, but that was like the 65 00:05:09.280 --> 00:05:13.200 first round, my first job, I interviewed a bunch, but then the second time it 66 00:05:13.200 --> 00:05:17.040 was a lot easier cause I had experience. Um, but that was great. So, so that 67 00:05:17.040 --> 00:05:22.000 was like spring break of my second year of teaching. And so then the end of 68 00:05:22.000 --> 00:05:26.640 that year, I got to go on a trip. Remember that? You do remember that cause you were 69 00:05:26.640 --> 00:05:31.680 alone with my house, but I got to go to Boston and New York with 35 eighth 70 00:05:31.680 --> 00:05:37.280 graders and two other teachers. The dream that was wild. I went because the 71 00:05:37.280 --> 00:05:41.440 teacher told me that we would go to a baseball game at Fenway, which is the 72 00:05:41.440 --> 00:05:45.360 Red Sox stadium. It's like the oldest baseball scene. And so, uh, I was like, 73 00:05:45.360 --> 00:05:48.320 yeah, I'm in. And then, uh, and then we did that on the first day and then I 74 00:05:48.320 --> 00:05:51.360 had to do the rest of it. But, uh, that was fun. So that was like kind of my 75 00:05:51.360 --> 00:05:55.520 last experience that first school then transitioned. And then the, I got another 76 00:05:55.600 --> 00:05:58.400 eighth grade history job in the second school. So I was really excited about 77 00:05:58.400 --> 00:06:01.760 that cause I got to teach the same thing. It wasn't like I was starting over. 78 00:06:01.760 --> 00:06:04.880 And then at that school I have lots of opportunities to coach. I think I was 79 00:06:04.880 --> 00:06:10.000 coaching for sports. Yeah. I was also coaching volleyball at the time. Yeah. 80 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:13.200 Yeah. Cause we did a little skirmish between our schools. Oh yeah. Did we set 81 00:06:13.200 --> 00:06:18.160 that up? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think I coached soccer, cross country wrestling 82 00:06:18.160 --> 00:06:25.280 and track, but my first year at that school was 2019, 2020. Yeah. And so I 83 00:06:25.360 --> 00:06:28.400 knew it was good. It was a different experience to that school, but again, 84 00:06:28.400 --> 00:06:32.560 really liked my principal, liked the people I worked with, was planning on 85 00:06:33.520 --> 00:06:38.560 doing it for a long time, closer to our house. I had just finished my master's 86 00:06:38.560 --> 00:06:43.120 degree. And so that bumped me up and pay a little bit and the four coaching 87 00:06:43.120 --> 00:06:45.840 opportunities were great. And so we were definitely felt like we were in a 88 00:06:45.840 --> 00:06:51.280 better spot. Yeah. And then spring of 2020 happened. And, um, that was wild 89 00:06:51.280 --> 00:06:56.800 cause I was the week before spring break that we just finished wrestling 90 00:06:56.800 --> 00:07:00.640 season. They canceled school for a week. And then next week was spring break. 91 00:07:00.640 --> 00:07:03.360 So I said, we're going to close for two weeks and we'll see what happens. And 92 00:07:03.360 --> 00:07:07.440 so we tried to do, they want us to like give the kids, I'm teaching eighth 93 00:07:07.440 --> 00:07:10.400 grade. Okay. So they want us to give kids assignments. I think we did. I 94 00:07:10.400 --> 00:07:13.440 don't think any of them did anything after spring break. They said, no, we're 95 00:07:13.440 --> 00:07:17.600 still going to be closed. Yeah. And it was kind of like a week by week thing. 96 00:07:17.600 --> 00:07:20.320 And then eventually they were like, we're not coming back this year. And so 97 00:07:20.320 --> 00:07:23.840 that was a weird time for us. I don't know. What do you remember about that? 98 00:07:24.560 --> 00:07:28.400 I just remember being like, so back and forth and like kind of chaotic just in 99 00:07:28.400 --> 00:07:33.920 that, like if any kids like were sick, I don't even think it was the next year. 100 00:07:33.920 --> 00:07:37.280 So this was just that first year when we were just close. Oh, you said 2020. 101 00:07:37.280 --> 00:07:40.720 And then I was thinking 2020, but spring of 2020. Yeah. It was a little crazy. 102 00:07:43.520 --> 00:07:46.240 It was just kind of hard. I think cause our house was so small, just like 103 00:07:46.240 --> 00:07:49.600 getting into a routine of like doing our own thing. And then you would just 104 00:07:49.600 --> 00:07:54.960 like pop upstairs. Yeah. Cause I wasn't teaching that year. I wasn't teaching 105 00:07:54.960 --> 00:07:59.600 the kids live. So they would have us just like post assignments daily and 106 00:07:59.600 --> 00:08:04.400 then respond to emails from kids and stuff. And so I didn't have a ton to do. 107 00:08:04.400 --> 00:08:08.240 So I would like do some stuff and then come up and I thought I was being 108 00:08:08.240 --> 00:08:11.920 helpful. I'm like, Hey, no, but I was probably just disrupting whatever. 109 00:08:11.920 --> 00:08:14.560 Then I felt like we were just like upstairs waiting for you to like come up. 110 00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:16.800 It's probably just disrupting whatever rhythms. And I was just, I mean, 111 00:08:16.800 --> 00:08:19.920 there was nothing really to do during that time, you know? So, 112 00:08:19.920 --> 00:08:24.080 and we had, how old was Miles? He was almost two. And so, yeah, I don't know. 113 00:08:25.520 --> 00:08:28.880 That was a weird time. But we made it through that. And again, 114 00:08:28.880 --> 00:08:33.120 at that point I was still thinking like teaching, we'll figure it out. 115 00:08:33.760 --> 00:08:36.960 And then, um, that summer was weird. Cause you were hearing a lot of stuff 116 00:08:37.679 --> 00:08:41.919 from the district about what we're going to, what fall is going to look like in 2020. 117 00:08:41.919 --> 00:08:45.440 And like so many back and forth things are, we're going to start in person. We're not 118 00:08:45.440 --> 00:08:48.800 going to start in person. We're going to do this, that, blah, blah. And so we, 119 00:08:48.800 --> 00:08:54.720 I think we did the first two weeks not in person. And I remember just teaching in my 120 00:08:54.720 --> 00:08:59.120 empty classroom from my laptop and all the kids were at home. So my, 121 00:08:59.760 --> 00:09:04.080 and that was my fourth year of teaching. And the first day of school is when you meet all the kids 122 00:09:04.080 --> 00:09:09.200 and I'm meeting them all through a computer screen, which was super weird. And so that's 123 00:09:09.200 --> 00:09:13.680 how we started the year. And then when we came back, I forget all the words that they used, 124 00:09:13.680 --> 00:09:19.200 but it was like asynchronous or I don't know. So I had, I had half the class in my room and half 125 00:09:19.200 --> 00:09:24.320 the class at home and I had to teach them all at the same time. And then they would switch. So like 126 00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:29.200 some kids came Monday, Wednesday, some kids came Tuesday, Thursday. And then I don't remember what 127 00:09:29.200 --> 00:09:34.960 we did on Fridays, but, uh, maybe it rotated. That was the beginning of burnout. Yeah. It was 128 00:09:34.960 --> 00:09:39.840 so, it was so hard and it just completely changed my style of teaching and how I taught. 129 00:09:40.160 --> 00:09:45.360 When you're basically possibly creating two lesson plans. And I think it was also, yeah. 130 00:09:49.120 --> 00:09:51.520 I felt like the kids at home were getting gypped because they're not really getting 131 00:09:51.520 --> 00:09:55.680 the full experience. And then, and then everybody's wearing masks. And so I would, 132 00:09:55.680 --> 00:09:59.840 I don't know if every teacher did this, but I would, it was middle school. So we'd like 55 minutes. 133 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:05.120 class periods, but we would go outside at least once a class period so that 134 00:10:05.120 --> 00:10:06.480 everyone could take off their mask. 135 00:10:06.720 --> 00:10:08.480 Have you ever even seen their face? 136 00:10:08.560 --> 00:10:11.880 You know, some kids wouldn't, some kids wouldn't take their masks off outside. 137 00:10:11.880 --> 00:10:13.200 And so I don't really know what they look like. 138 00:10:13.240 --> 00:10:13.840 Yeah. 139 00:10:13.920 --> 00:10:14.840 That's hard to connect. 140 00:10:14.840 --> 00:10:15.480 It was weird. 141 00:10:15.480 --> 00:10:18.520 But the worst part of the school year, not the worst part, I guess the worst 142 00:10:18.520 --> 00:10:22.040 part for us financially, I should say is that they said no coaching middle school. 143 00:10:22.040 --> 00:10:25.280 So they, so high school was allowed to play sports, but they said 144 00:10:25.280 --> 00:10:26.480 middle school is not doing sports. 145 00:10:26.480 --> 00:10:27.960 And we relied on that heavily. 146 00:10:27.960 --> 00:10:29.720 Cause that was four sports that I was coaching. 147 00:10:29.720 --> 00:10:31.080 And so it was a good chunk of money. 148 00:10:31.080 --> 00:10:32.600 And at the beginning of the year, they're like, Oh, middle 149 00:10:32.600 --> 00:10:33.960 schoolers don't need to do sports. 150 00:10:34.040 --> 00:10:34.320 Yeah. 151 00:10:34.640 --> 00:10:35.480 We're like, what? 152 00:10:35.480 --> 00:10:39.160 And so that's when I think we were starting to think, man, like what else 153 00:10:39.160 --> 00:10:45.280 could I do because this isn't a, it's, I'm not really liking it and all the, 154 00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:49.800 the, yeah, trying to teach with a mask on and trying to make sure kids keep their 155 00:10:49.800 --> 00:10:53.000 masks on and like, I'm not feeling, I'm not really teaching anymore. 156 00:10:53.000 --> 00:10:54.640 Cause I'm all this other stuff. 157 00:10:54.640 --> 00:10:58.520 And then the other thing they would do that falls like the quarantine stuff. 158 00:10:58.520 --> 00:11:02.800 So like if a kid came to school sick, like they would quarantine the kids 159 00:11:02.840 --> 00:11:04.160 and teachers that they were around. 160 00:11:04.160 --> 00:11:07.720 So that's the year then that it would be like, Oh, you're like Sunday 161 00:11:07.720 --> 00:11:10.520 night, you'd get an email and it was like, Oh, you're in class or you're not. 162 00:11:10.560 --> 00:11:10.840 Yeah. 163 00:11:10.840 --> 00:11:13.360 And you'd be like, okay, now I need to address my entire lesson plan. 164 00:11:13.560 --> 00:11:14.040 Yeah. 165 00:11:14.080 --> 00:11:17.360 Cause there was one week where it was like, they sent me home that week. 166 00:11:17.360 --> 00:11:23.080 Cause I was exposed to a kid who may have maybe, or maybe had COVID, 167 00:11:23.120 --> 00:11:24.760 even though they had a mask on an item. 168 00:11:25.160 --> 00:11:25.440 Anyway. 169 00:11:25.440 --> 00:11:28.880 So then I'd go home and then I didn't find out till like Sunday night if I was 170 00:11:28.880 --> 00:11:30.560 even allowed to go to school on Monday. 171 00:11:30.560 --> 00:11:31.440 It was just chaotic. 172 00:11:31.480 --> 00:11:32.240 Even though I wasn't sick. 173 00:11:32.240 --> 00:11:33.240 So yeah, it was kind of exhausting. 174 00:11:33.240 --> 00:11:36.160 You have all these extra stuff going on and then I'm making less money cause we 175 00:11:36.160 --> 00:11:38.720 took a pay cut and I couldn't coach. 176 00:11:39.200 --> 00:11:40.280 Um, which the school is great. 177 00:11:40.280 --> 00:11:44.720 They, they tried to make up some like intramural sports stuff after school that, 178 00:11:44.760 --> 00:11:46.080 that made us a little action. 179 00:11:46.080 --> 00:11:47.000 It was out of their control. 180 00:11:47.000 --> 00:11:48.040 I think it wasn't the same. 181 00:11:48.040 --> 00:11:54.400 So that fall we started thinking in my military job, uh, that I did one weekend 182 00:11:54.400 --> 00:11:58.280 a month and during the summer, how it worked is I worked with a lot of, uh, 183 00:11:58.280 --> 00:12:00.840 civilian government employees in the same job. 184 00:12:00.840 --> 00:12:01.960 I was military, but they were civilian. 185 00:12:01.960 --> 00:12:02.960 We worked at the same job though. 186 00:12:02.960 --> 00:12:06.400 And so I was up there one time, I don't know if it was a, if it was a drill 187 00:12:06.400 --> 00:12:09.200 weekend or something, but I was just talking to, and then all of a sudden I 188 00:12:09.200 --> 00:12:14.400 had this thought, which I had never had in like nine, eight or nine years, this 189 00:12:14.400 --> 00:12:16.200 had never occurred to me and it just hit me. 190 00:12:16.200 --> 00:12:20.200 And it was like, what if I worked up there full-time as a civilian? 191 00:12:20.760 --> 00:12:21.720 I think it was totally from the Lord. 192 00:12:21.720 --> 00:12:23.200 Cause I never considered that before. 193 00:12:23.200 --> 00:12:24.240 I was like, I'm gonna be a teacher. 194 00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:25.720 I'm doing military thing part-time. 195 00:12:26.400 --> 00:12:26.920 And it just hit me. 196 00:12:26.920 --> 00:12:28.880 And so the guy I was working with was a civilian. 197 00:12:29.080 --> 00:12:31.320 And so I was like, how much you guys get paid? 198 00:12:31.320 --> 00:12:33.880 And I just started asking some questions. 199 00:12:33.880 --> 00:12:35.000 And I remember coming home. 200 00:12:35.000 --> 00:12:35.520 Do you remember that? 201 00:12:35.520 --> 00:12:36.040 When I pitched that to you? 202 00:12:36.120 --> 00:12:39.120 I remember you came home and you were like, here's the salary. 203 00:12:39.120 --> 00:12:40.360 And I'm like, cool. 204 00:12:40.560 --> 00:12:41.040 I'm in. 205 00:12:42.720 --> 00:12:44.360 Like, that was, that was it. 206 00:12:44.680 --> 00:12:45.360 Like, sure. 207 00:12:45.600 --> 00:12:47.280 And it being more than what we initially thought. 208 00:12:47.280 --> 00:12:48.760 But, and I don't, I don't know. 209 00:12:49.280 --> 00:12:51.080 I kind of felt like an easy decision at first. 210 00:12:51.080 --> 00:12:53.000 I think just because it was necessary. 211 00:12:53.280 --> 00:12:57.800 We're just sick and tired of like, yeah, just constantly feeling so tight. 212 00:12:58.320 --> 00:12:59.600 And, but it took forever. 213 00:12:59.760 --> 00:13:04.800 So we first, the idea popped in, in May or in that fall of 2020. 214 00:13:04.800 --> 00:13:06.960 And I knew a lot of those people really well cause I'd worked 215 00:13:06.960 --> 00:13:07.920 with them for nine years. 216 00:13:07.920 --> 00:13:10.760 But, um, and so I started asking questions. 217 00:13:10.760 --> 00:13:12.160 They're like, yeah, of course we'd hire you. 218 00:13:12.160 --> 00:13:12.880 We need somebody. 219 00:13:12.880 --> 00:13:15.240 And that paperwork and the government took forever. 220 00:13:15.240 --> 00:13:17.840 So I didn't get hired until February. 221 00:13:18.440 --> 00:13:24.200 And so I left teaching that February and in the middle of the school year, we were 222 00:13:24.200 --> 00:13:28.680 still doing the weird asynchronous thing and half the kids and all that. 223 00:13:28.680 --> 00:13:30.520 And so, which I think you felt bad doing that. 224 00:13:30.520 --> 00:13:32.440 But also, but I'll back up a little bit. 225 00:13:32.440 --> 00:13:34.200 I remember praying into that decision. 226 00:13:34.200 --> 00:13:36.040 Cause I was going back and forth like, man, am I really supposed to leave 227 00:13:36.040 --> 00:13:36.320 teaching? 228 00:13:36.320 --> 00:13:38.480 Cause I thought I was going to be teaching for 30 years. 229 00:13:38.480 --> 00:13:41.000 And I remember thinking like, well, I could go back, you know, and things 230 00:13:41.000 --> 00:13:42.560 aren't as weird with teaching. 231 00:13:42.560 --> 00:13:44.880 But I, it's funny. 232 00:13:44.920 --> 00:13:48.480 And there'll probably be a couple of examples of this in this story, but 233 00:13:48.520 --> 00:13:51.120 cause usually if I'm like praying into something, I'll put on worship music. 234 00:13:51.520 --> 00:13:53.000 And there's always a song that speaks to me. 235 00:13:53.000 --> 00:13:55.880 And so I remember, I think it was that, um, you make me brave song. 236 00:13:55.960 --> 00:13:59.760 And when I was considering it, cause it was a hard decision to leave teaching. 237 00:13:59.760 --> 00:14:02.840 And then I didn't realize how hard it was until the day that I left. 238 00:14:02.840 --> 00:14:03.520 You remember that day? 239 00:14:04.080 --> 00:14:05.160 I was like a Friday. 240 00:14:05.160 --> 00:14:06.560 It was my last day in February. 241 00:14:06.560 --> 00:14:07.880 And I'd put in two weeks. 242 00:14:07.880 --> 00:14:09.200 Do you have tears in your eyes now? 243 00:14:09.280 --> 00:14:09.840 Right now? 244 00:14:10.080 --> 00:14:12.440 No, but I, I always call you. 245 00:14:12.680 --> 00:14:13.640 I'm on my way home from work. 246 00:14:13.920 --> 00:14:16.000 Any job that I've had, I always call you on my way home. 247 00:14:16.120 --> 00:14:17.360 But that day I didn't. 248 00:14:17.480 --> 00:14:19.440 I think I even picked up groceries. 249 00:14:19.480 --> 00:14:21.240 I think you had me pick up groceries on my way home. 250 00:14:21.280 --> 00:14:21.480 Yeah. 251 00:14:22.240 --> 00:14:24.080 Uh, from like the pickup or whatever. 252 00:14:24.080 --> 00:14:26.840 And so I was doing that, but I didn't call you cause I knew I 253 00:14:26.840 --> 00:14:28.720 was going to start crying if I called you. 254 00:14:28.720 --> 00:14:29.400 And it was a good day. 255 00:14:29.400 --> 00:14:30.480 Like the kids were awesome. 256 00:14:30.480 --> 00:14:31.880 They like threw me a party. 257 00:14:31.880 --> 00:14:35.680 They like signed this huge poster for me, which they should've, I was 258 00:14:35.680 --> 00:14:37.000 leaving in the middle of the school year. 259 00:14:37.000 --> 00:14:38.640 I mean, it'd be nice to me. 260 00:14:38.640 --> 00:14:42.120 And then, um, so it was a good day, but then I got home and I just 261 00:14:42.120 --> 00:14:43.480 like lost it, I think. 262 00:14:43.480 --> 00:14:43.720 Yeah. 263 00:14:43.760 --> 00:14:44.120 Right. 264 00:14:44.200 --> 00:14:44.440 Yeah. 265 00:14:44.440 --> 00:14:45.040 I just started crying. 266 00:14:45.040 --> 00:14:45.640 You definitely cried. 267 00:14:45.680 --> 00:14:45.920 Yeah. 268 00:14:46.200 --> 00:14:46.840 And I didn't even know why. 269 00:14:46.960 --> 00:14:50.200 So then for like two months, I didn't know why I was having such a hard time 270 00:14:50.200 --> 00:14:52.520 with it because I didn't mind the other job. 271 00:14:52.520 --> 00:14:57.480 Like it wasn't teaching and it wasn't kids, but it was a job that I didn't hate. 272 00:14:57.480 --> 00:14:58.440 I had done it for nine years. 273 00:14:58.440 --> 00:14:59.680 I felt like I was pretty good at it. 274 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:04.560 called airfield management. So I did flight plans. I did checks and inspections of the runway and 275 00:15:04.560 --> 00:15:10.000 pavement. And I got to be outside on an airfield with like jets flying over. It was pretty cool, 276 00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:15.200 but I was, I was, but like, that wasn't even that bad yet. It was like two months in and I was just 277 00:15:15.200 --> 00:15:20.480 really struggling with, I was like, man, I left my dream job. Like I left the career I was going 278 00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:26.000 to do for 30 years. Like, what was I thinking? And then, uh, we got together with some random 279 00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:31.200 friends. It was really my brother's friend. Like, I don't even know if we've had them over since. 280 00:15:31.200 --> 00:15:35.840 This was like a couple of years ago. And we've talked about that. The Lord does it all the time. 281 00:15:35.840 --> 00:15:41.360 We'll just plop random people in our lives to say something to us. And, um, but I was talking to him 282 00:15:41.360 --> 00:15:46.640 about it and he was like, well, dude, if your identity is, is wrapped up in anything other 283 00:15:46.640 --> 00:15:51.200 than Christ and that thing goes away, it'll feel like a part of you died. And I was like, Oh, 284 00:15:52.160 --> 00:15:57.520 that's it. That's exactly what I'm dealing with. And I, and I guess I knew that, but just for him 285 00:15:57.520 --> 00:16:03.840 to word it that way, really clicked. And so I was like, man, my identity was wrapped up in being a 286 00:16:03.840 --> 00:16:07.200 teacher. Like, I know I didn't make a lot of money. I know it's not a glamor shop, but like, 287 00:16:07.200 --> 00:16:11.520 I was proud of being a teacher. Like I liked telling people that I was a teacher. I was like, 288 00:16:11.520 --> 00:16:15.520 yeah, like this. Well, you liked the response too. Yeah. Cause people are like, why would you teach 289 00:16:15.520 --> 00:16:19.040 middle school? Yeah. And so I liked it and I thought I was going to do it for a long time. 290 00:16:19.040 --> 00:16:22.960 And I liked history. I like teaching history. And so, and I wasn't doing it all. Suddenly I 291 00:16:22.960 --> 00:16:25.920 wasn't doing any of that. And I was doing something more important though. Right. I was, 292 00:16:25.920 --> 00:16:29.920 I changed jobs to provide for my family. I knew the Lord was leading me in that direction. That 293 00:16:29.920 --> 00:16:34.240 was the confusing thing too, is cause we had peace about it. I'm like, well now Lord, I'm 294 00:16:34.240 --> 00:16:39.360 doing something where I'm not using any of my gifts or passions. And so that was, that was 295 00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:43.840 really hard. Um, but when he said that it got a little bit better. And then I had another friend 296 00:16:43.840 --> 00:16:47.840 at the time who is, I was asked, talking to a lot about it as well. And he, he kept saying, 297 00:16:47.840 --> 00:16:51.440 well, you know, if your gift is teaching, it doesn't mean you have to be a teacher. 298 00:16:51.440 --> 00:16:56.080 You know, like the Lord can do lots of things with your gifts. It does. You know, 299 00:16:57.360 --> 00:17:00.800 anyone who's gifted in teaching doesn't have to be a teacher, which I know now, 300 00:17:00.800 --> 00:17:05.599 but at the time I was like, well, I'm not really teaching in this, this airfield management job 301 00:17:05.599 --> 00:17:10.400 either. Yeah. And I think looking back on that, it's like, you could, you know, pinpoint ways 302 00:17:10.400 --> 00:17:15.119 that like that job, maybe it wasn't a long season, but like it opened the door for us to be able to 303 00:17:15.119 --> 00:17:18.480 buy our current house. Cause we were outgrowing our last house, but like, could not afford 304 00:17:18.480 --> 00:17:23.119 anything. Tell that story. That's a cool story. Which part? Getting the house. Cause that was 305 00:17:23.119 --> 00:17:27.599 right when I started that job. Yeah. We had, yeah. You'd maybe been in there like a month, 306 00:17:27.599 --> 00:17:33.440 two months maybe. And, um, our last house was three bedrooms, but it was like a split level. 307 00:17:33.440 --> 00:17:41.520 So upstairs there were only two bedrooms and yes. And we're, uh, our second baby was, uh, 308 00:17:41.520 --> 00:17:47.680 do that fall. It was probably early like January, maybe February. And, or was it more like March 309 00:17:47.680 --> 00:17:53.200 and spring? Yeah. Okay. Spring of that year. And, um, yeah, we just felt like we were outgrowing 310 00:17:53.200 --> 00:17:59.360 our house. Like we had one bedroom that was like upstairs besides ours. And it was tiny, 311 00:17:59.360 --> 00:18:04.240 really tiny, felt hard to host people. Cause we had such a tiny little kitchen and dining area. 312 00:18:04.240 --> 00:18:10.240 We had like four chairs. So it was just hard to get a new house. We had to sell our current house. 313 00:18:10.240 --> 00:18:14.560 Yes. So we had the income to buy a new, to buy a bigger house. But yeah, 314 00:18:14.560 --> 00:18:21.440 the contingent offer was tricky. But if we didn't sell our house or if we sold our house first, 315 00:18:21.440 --> 00:18:24.800 then we could have ended up like, yeah, there's kind of two options. You can try to put a 316 00:18:24.800 --> 00:18:28.080 contingent offer. Like, Hey, we want to buy your house, but we have to sell ours first, 317 00:18:28.080 --> 00:18:32.800 which most market was hot. Most people are not going to take that. So the other option, 318 00:18:32.800 --> 00:18:38.640 which our realtor was telling us to do was sell your house first and then look for a house. 319 00:18:39.600 --> 00:18:44.640 So then you only have a small window of time. Yeah. And so it felt risky. So yeah. Anyways. 320 00:18:44.640 --> 00:18:48.560 Yeah. So that, that was our plan. And then. Yeah. So then we hadn't even started looking. 321 00:18:48.560 --> 00:18:55.760 We were like working hard on, we got a storage unit to like just declutter and, um, Facebook. 322 00:18:55.760 --> 00:19:00.800 Yeah. We were like painting, touching up, whatever. But, um, I, the neighborhood that 323 00:19:00.800 --> 00:19:06.240 my parents live in that I grew up in, I was still on their Facebook page and I got on it 324 00:19:06.960 --> 00:19:11.440 for some reason, or I just saw it on Facebook that somebody had posted somebody that I knew 325 00:19:11.440 --> 00:19:14.400 had posted that they were selling their house in that neighborhood. 326 00:19:14.400 --> 00:19:21.360 You played volleyball with his daughter, right? Yeah. And I was like, wait, I know him. And it 327 00:19:21.360 --> 00:19:26.880 was like in our price range. It was in our price range. Great plan. Yeah. Three bedrooms upstairs, 328 00:19:27.600 --> 00:19:32.080 um, in my parents' neighborhood, which has a pool. So we asked a realtor, super nice. We were like, 329 00:19:32.160 --> 00:19:39.360 are we crazy to try that? So we went and saw it. And, um, I think I had asked him like, Hey, 330 00:19:39.360 --> 00:19:43.200 we're, we would love to see your house, but we would have a contingent offer. Like, 331 00:19:43.920 --> 00:19:48.000 would you consider that? And I think he said in the right situation, he said normally no, 332 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:51.840 but I know you guys said, yeah, so go for it. So we were like, okay, well, we'll at least try. 333 00:19:51.840 --> 00:19:55.920 So we went and saw the house. It was the only house we saw. We didn't even look. I mean, 334 00:19:55.920 --> 00:19:59.840 we could have looked around, but we didn't. And, um, we put in an offer. 335 00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:06.640 Offer. And then I think there were like one, two other offers and better than 336 00:20:06.640 --> 00:20:10.560 which, yeah, which, but also it was the, so either something was wrong with the 337 00:20:10.560 --> 00:20:16.320 house, which we haven't figured that out yet, or, but like, no, there wasn't like 338 00:20:16.320 --> 00:20:19.040 a ton of offers. Like we just assumed there would be so many offers cause the 339 00:20:19.040 --> 00:20:22.620 market was kind of at that point and there wasn't. So then it was like either 340 00:20:22.620 --> 00:20:26.200 something was wrong at the house or it was just supposed to be ours, but there 341 00:20:26.200 --> 00:20:30.520 was a cash offer higher than ours that he was going to. So he accepted our 342 00:20:30.520 --> 00:20:34.240 offer and then he messaged you. And you remember that? And he explained, he's 343 00:20:34.240 --> 00:20:36.840 like, I just want to explain why I picked your offer. He was like, yeah, we 344 00:20:36.840 --> 00:20:41.380 got a cash offer. I was tempted to buy it, to accept it. But he said that he 345 00:20:41.380 --> 00:20:45.680 felt like God woke him up at like 2am, 3am and was just like, you need to pick 346 00:20:45.680 --> 00:20:52.920 them. So anyway, if you have a contingent offer, do it. So yeah, that was really 347 00:20:52.920 --> 00:20:56.720 cool. Cause it, and it was just, I think a confirmation that we were doing the 348 00:20:56.720 --> 00:21:01.560 right stuff with changing jobs. Cause right after that, and then the Lord shows 349 00:21:01.560 --> 00:21:05.960 up like that and tells this guy to pick our offer. It is crazy story. And so 350 00:21:05.960 --> 00:21:10.640 that's, the house has been a huge blessing for us and, um, been there for 351 00:21:11.000 --> 00:21:14.600 almost three years now. So yeah, it was, we made that transition. So I'm doing 352 00:21:14.600 --> 00:21:20.880 this job. I'm commuting to Denver, which is tough. It was really early morning. 353 00:21:20.880 --> 00:21:24.840 So I had to, I had to get up at three 30 in the morning and then we was, it was 354 00:21:24.840 --> 00:21:29.520 10 hour shifts. So I'd get up to the, I'd get up to Denver by five 30, wouldn't 355 00:21:29.520 --> 00:21:34.760 get off shift till close to four. And so then I want to get home until five 3pm. 356 00:21:34.760 --> 00:21:39.360 So it was like 12 hour days away from the house. And then, and then we'd work, 357 00:21:39.360 --> 00:21:42.120 I'd work a night shift every week, which wasn't your favorite thing. 358 00:21:42.120 --> 00:21:43.880 No, I can't stand that. 359 00:21:44.480 --> 00:21:48.760 Yeah. And during this time period though, because I wasn't doing where I felt like 360 00:21:48.760 --> 00:21:53.000 my giftings and passions where I started volunteering with the youth group at the 361 00:21:53.000 --> 00:21:56.240 church we'd been attending for a couple of years. And so I got plugged in there, 362 00:21:56.240 --> 00:22:02.240 started serving volunteer basis. I wasn't that consistent just because the job was 363 00:22:02.240 --> 00:22:05.960 tough with the shift work and night shifts. And I felt like I was tired all the time, 364 00:22:05.960 --> 00:22:10.000 but, but I loved that. And it was, it was super, um, life-giving for me and just 365 00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:13.520 felt like we had loved our church and we didn't serve a whole lot. So I felt like 366 00:22:13.520 --> 00:22:18.280 it was a way where I could serve in the church we've been visiting and hang out 367 00:22:18.320 --> 00:22:22.240 with kids. Yeah. Which I love doing. And so that was fun. So I, I started, 368 00:22:22.280 --> 00:22:26.280 I did that for about a year while I was in that job. 369 00:22:26.280 --> 00:22:31.280 And then we had our second and then in the fall of 21, 370 00:22:32.160 --> 00:22:36.200 second kid, and then still doing the job. But I remember that during that time, 371 00:22:36.280 --> 00:22:39.400 I was home on paternity leave, kind of, 372 00:22:39.480 --> 00:22:42.200 I was home whatever days I had saved up for a little bit. 373 00:22:42.200 --> 00:22:46.440 And I felt like at that time we were talking a lot about like what's next. 374 00:22:46.440 --> 00:22:49.400 You were like, just don't go back. Please don't go back. 375 00:22:49.720 --> 00:22:52.520 And we knew it was not going to be a long-term thing. Yeah. 376 00:22:52.600 --> 00:22:54.480 It was good for us financially in the moment, 377 00:22:54.480 --> 00:22:57.640 but it wasn't what we were passionate about. And so, oh, 378 00:22:57.640 --> 00:23:00.680 you might hear our baby a few times. He's in the corner. 379 00:23:02.040 --> 00:23:06.480 He's noisy. He's happy. He's just noisy. Yeah. He's loud. He has to be loud. 380 00:23:06.480 --> 00:23:08.320 We have three kids. Yeah. Yeah. 381 00:23:08.320 --> 00:23:11.400 I just remember having a lot of conversations when we were waiting for Adler to 382 00:23:11.400 --> 00:23:15.440 be born. And then before I went back to work about like what's next, you know, 383 00:23:15.560 --> 00:23:19.520 I think it was during that time I was praying hard about what was next. 384 00:23:19.520 --> 00:23:22.280 And I think I was feeling frustrated. And I remember saying to you like, 385 00:23:22.840 --> 00:23:25.200 I'm praying I'm not getting anything. Well, you try. 386 00:23:25.200 --> 00:23:29.360 You were like you try and then you left. And I remember even like at that time, 387 00:23:29.360 --> 00:23:32.200 I don't even remember feeling like I intentionally was like, sure, 388 00:23:32.200 --> 00:23:33.840 I'll pray about it. I mean, not that I wasn't willing, 389 00:23:34.120 --> 00:23:36.400 but I don't remember like starting to pray about it. 390 00:23:36.400 --> 00:23:39.600 It was just kind of like, okay, sure. And then I felt just like this clear, 391 00:23:39.600 --> 00:23:41.960 like, I don't know, it didn't make sense at the time. At the time, 392 00:23:41.960 --> 00:23:43.920 it felt like, like I was like, 393 00:23:43.920 --> 00:23:48.080 God was telling me that like I was like the next season was like me, 394 00:23:48.120 --> 00:23:52.720 like I needed to be financially providing in the next season. 395 00:23:53.040 --> 00:23:57.240 And I took that. No, but I took, I, the way I received, 396 00:23:57.240 --> 00:24:02.000 it was like, like totally, like, I don't, I don't know what that means. 397 00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:05.080 Like I don't, I don't, I'm not doing anything like really that would. 398 00:24:05.720 --> 00:24:07.880 I remember being like, sweet. I get to be a stay at home dad. 399 00:24:07.880 --> 00:24:12.880 No, but I, I remember thinking like, wait, but like how, 400 00:24:12.880 --> 00:24:15.720 but then I just felt like this, like, well, you have everything you need. 401 00:24:15.760 --> 00:24:19.000 You're going to have a role. And well, 402 00:24:19.000 --> 00:24:21.440 that's what we got to eventually when it like came together and we figured it 403 00:24:21.440 --> 00:24:23.880 out. But yeah, at the time I was just like, what does that mean? 404 00:24:23.880 --> 00:24:25.320 Like I had a blog, but like, 405 00:24:25.320 --> 00:24:28.440 it did not make anywhere near enough money, like 50 bucks a month. 406 00:24:28.640 --> 00:24:31.320 I don't know. So yeah. And then I just felt like this clear, like, well, 407 00:24:31.320 --> 00:24:33.280 you have everything you need. Cause I was like, oh, 408 00:24:33.280 --> 00:24:35.080 I don't know how to do that. I don't, I'm not prepared. 409 00:24:35.120 --> 00:24:38.000 I'm not set up for that. I don't know where that would even come from. 410 00:24:38.480 --> 00:24:42.240 And then I want to say just like a few, few weeks later, 411 00:24:42.440 --> 00:24:46.960 I don't know the timing. I got a referral from somebody with a, 412 00:24:47.200 --> 00:24:49.840 no, so hold on. So it was quite a bit later. So that was, 413 00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:52.680 cause that was like right when Adler was born and then we just, 414 00:24:52.720 --> 00:24:55.800 and then I ended up going back to work and then we just kind of kept doing what 415 00:24:55.800 --> 00:24:56.400 we were doing, 416 00:24:56.400 --> 00:24:59.400 but it was getting tougher with the commute and now having two kids and a 417 00:24:59.400 --> 00:24:59.880 newborn. 418 00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:04.040 night shifts and, you know, night shift, like if I'm not there, you know, 419 00:25:04.040 --> 00:25:07.000 newborns are needy at night. And so you're doing that by yourself. And then, 420 00:25:07.280 --> 00:25:10.760 I mean, yeah. And then we kind of do it for a while. 421 00:25:10.760 --> 00:25:15.240 Like I was applying for all sorts of stuff going into that next spring I was 422 00:25:15.240 --> 00:25:18.440 applying for, I don't know. I, I didn't feel like I should go back into teaching, 423 00:25:18.440 --> 00:25:23.160 but I was applying for, um, like there was this one job I really wanted. 424 00:25:23.160 --> 00:25:26.440 It was like an online ed education technology company. 425 00:25:26.440 --> 00:25:28.600 And I'd be like writing curriculum for their videos. 426 00:25:29.040 --> 00:25:30.120 And I was really excited about it. 427 00:25:30.120 --> 00:25:33.080 And I think I did a couple of interviews with them and then didn't get the job. 428 00:25:33.560 --> 00:25:34.920 Working sounded fun to us. 429 00:25:35.040 --> 00:25:35.880 Working from home. Yeah. 430 00:25:35.880 --> 00:25:37.040 Like we'll move to the mountains. 431 00:25:37.040 --> 00:25:40.840 Yeah. And I just felt crushed that I didn't get that. And then I was, 432 00:25:41.800 --> 00:25:43.600 we were exploring all sorts of options. 433 00:25:43.600 --> 00:25:45.400 We were willing to do pretty much anything. 434 00:25:45.880 --> 00:25:48.800 And then ultimately it came down to like, the job was just too much. 435 00:25:48.800 --> 00:25:53.200 Commuting was too much. Um, our, our dog tragically died. 436 00:25:53.640 --> 00:25:54.280 On a night shift. 437 00:25:54.280 --> 00:25:57.000 On a night shift. And you had to deal with all of that. And we were like, 438 00:25:58.000 --> 00:26:00.760 can't be stuck in Denver anymore. Like we can't do this. 439 00:26:00.760 --> 00:26:04.920 And so then I remember we were at this event at our church that they do kind of 440 00:26:04.920 --> 00:26:05.920 the beginning of the new year. 441 00:26:06.000 --> 00:26:10.520 And another song was playing in the line of the song was, um, you silence fear. 442 00:26:10.520 --> 00:26:13.160 And so I remember we were just been talking about like, well, 443 00:26:13.160 --> 00:26:16.200 maybe we just, we just need to quit the job. We just need to quit. Yeah. 444 00:26:16.320 --> 00:26:18.600 I was like, but I've got two kids and I've got wifi. 445 00:26:18.600 --> 00:26:19.880 Oh, but how do we pay bills or how do we do this? 446 00:26:19.880 --> 00:26:21.640 I have nothing lined up. And so I was like, Lord, 447 00:26:21.640 --> 00:26:24.280 if this is what we're supposed to do, you need to silence my fear. 448 00:26:24.320 --> 00:26:27.040 Cause like, I, I'm afraid to quit when I don't, 449 00:26:27.120 --> 00:26:29.960 I have to support my family somehow. And he did, 450 00:26:29.960 --> 00:26:33.800 I just felt an overwhelming sense of peace in that moment. And, uh, 451 00:26:33.880 --> 00:26:37.680 I think we talked to some friends at that event too, 452 00:26:37.680 --> 00:26:39.920 and they were kind of encouraging us in the same direction. So, 453 00:26:40.440 --> 00:26:43.840 but then I think we still sat on it for like a month and then finally we're 454 00:26:43.840 --> 00:26:46.200 like, no, we've had peace. We've got it. We're like, 455 00:26:46.200 --> 00:26:51.240 we feel like we need to do this. So we, we quit nothing lined up. 456 00:26:51.520 --> 00:26:52.080 Yeah. 457 00:26:52.080 --> 00:26:56.400 Put in my two weeks and I'm done. Now I've been spring of, of 22. 458 00:26:57.240 --> 00:26:59.760 And then soon after that, 459 00:26:59.960 --> 00:27:04.960 Lord opened the door to interview to be the youth pastor at church and the youth 460 00:27:05.000 --> 00:27:07.920 group that I had been volunteering at. And that was just, yeah, 461 00:27:07.960 --> 00:27:09.280 that was so cool because... 462 00:27:09.280 --> 00:27:10.120 What month was that? 463 00:27:10.960 --> 00:27:14.640 I don't know. It was all that spring. Yeah. Um, of 22. And so, 464 00:27:14.640 --> 00:27:18.360 and that was cool because that was not really something I ever thought that of, 465 00:27:18.400 --> 00:27:20.640 of pursuing, you know, being in full-time ministry. 466 00:27:21.080 --> 00:27:22.800 And in hindsight though, 467 00:27:22.800 --> 00:27:26.600 it's really cool because I didn't even realize how the Lord had been preparing 468 00:27:26.600 --> 00:27:30.920 me for it through my time in the military and leadership skills I picked up there. 469 00:27:30.920 --> 00:27:34.720 And then my time in teaching, I'm still teaching, you know, 470 00:27:34.720 --> 00:27:37.240 I could teach the Bible now, which is way more fun than teaching history. 471 00:27:37.240 --> 00:27:39.160 It's still teaching history, but it's different. 472 00:27:40.360 --> 00:27:43.440 And then just the relationship I can have with, with students as a youth pastor. 473 00:27:43.480 --> 00:27:45.800 But anyways, so Lord opened that door and I was like, man, 474 00:27:45.800 --> 00:27:48.640 I guess this is the direction we're going to go. And, and he was kind of, 475 00:27:48.640 --> 00:27:51.520 I think turning our hearts both in that direction. 476 00:27:51.600 --> 00:27:55.800 I think we were definitely on the same page for it. And then when crunch time 477 00:27:55.800 --> 00:27:58.400 happened, had the interview, had to make the decision. Yeah. 478 00:27:58.400 --> 00:28:00.840 Talk about that a little bit. Cause then that's when the job stuff happened. 479 00:28:00.840 --> 00:28:04.920 Yeah. My timeline was fuzzy, but yeah, we were like, definitely that's the job. 480 00:28:04.920 --> 00:28:06.520 Like we both felt good about it. But again, 481 00:28:06.520 --> 00:28:11.040 we were unsure about the numbers financial because it was definitely less than I 482 00:28:11.040 --> 00:28:13.560 was making in like... It would have worked in our last house, 483 00:28:13.560 --> 00:28:14.480 but then we were making more. 484 00:28:14.480 --> 00:28:17.880 And so we bought a little bit bigger house and then all of a sudden we didn't 485 00:28:17.880 --> 00:28:20.880 have, it wouldn't have worked in that house. 486 00:28:21.240 --> 00:28:26.080 So that was kind of when that like that word that I got kind of came into play 487 00:28:26.080 --> 00:28:29.360 where I think it was May, beginning of May. 488 00:28:29.840 --> 00:28:33.480 I still had no clue what I was supposed to be doing to make money. Like that, 489 00:28:33.480 --> 00:28:36.640 I don't know. It was kind of on the back burner that I have to do something. 490 00:28:37.200 --> 00:28:40.880 Yeah. And so I remember I got a referral from somebody that we know that was 491 00:28:40.880 --> 00:28:44.000 like, Hey, are you, are you taking design jobs? 492 00:28:44.000 --> 00:28:47.120 I have someone moving here and they want their whole house furnished before they 493 00:28:47.120 --> 00:28:49.320 get here and they need someone to do it. And I said, 494 00:28:49.400 --> 00:28:52.600 I want to send them your info. And I was like, okay, sure. 495 00:28:52.960 --> 00:28:57.960 So they literally reached out and it was like this big job. 496 00:28:59.280 --> 00:29:00.120 You learned a lot. 497 00:29:00.120 --> 00:29:04.880 Like months of covering like our financial gap. And yeah, I learned a lot. 498 00:29:05.720 --> 00:29:07.720 And then because of that referral, 499 00:29:07.720 --> 00:29:11.120 which happened literally like right when I accepted the job, 500 00:29:11.800 --> 00:29:15.120 you decided to head in that direction and pursue design, 501 00:29:15.920 --> 00:29:18.400 which has always been something I've been interested in. It's always, 502 00:29:18.440 --> 00:29:21.480 that's what my blog is about, but I had never thought I, 503 00:29:21.480 --> 00:29:24.080 I didn't think I wanted to work with clients, but you're trained, 504 00:29:24.600 --> 00:29:28.200 certification. You've always been, since you were what, like in middle school, 505 00:29:28.200 --> 00:29:31.160 you're pushing furniture around and you're probably like seven. Yeah. 506 00:29:31.640 --> 00:29:34.280 And watching HGTV the whole deal. But yeah, 507 00:29:34.280 --> 00:29:38.240 it was just funny timing because it was literally like, okay, sure. 508 00:29:38.240 --> 00:29:40.760 And I feel like I was just kind of like thrown into like, well, 509 00:29:40.760 --> 00:29:44.680 this is your business now. And it's been super great since. 510 00:29:44.680 --> 00:29:46.760 It's definitely looked different depending on the season, 511 00:29:46.760 --> 00:29:50.960 just because I have two children. Yeah. And like right now, 512 00:29:50.960 --> 00:29:54.600 I feel like I'm in an adjustment period where I don't really know how to, 513 00:29:55.240 --> 00:29:57.960 I don't know how I'm supposed to find time except when like your home, 514 00:29:57.960 --> 00:29:59.960 but just the juggle of like, that's. 515 00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:03.120 family time. Yeah, there's a lot to balance for sure. 516 00:30:03.320 --> 00:30:04.700 Like obviously there's Saturdays, 517 00:30:04.700 --> 00:30:07.880 but I don't want to spend my whole Saturday working, you know? 518 00:30:08.240 --> 00:30:08.960 And looking back, 519 00:30:08.960 --> 00:30:13.380 cause we're coming up on two years now of that transition from me into full 520 00:30:13.380 --> 00:30:16.760 time, really us in a full-time ministry. Cause you, you do it with me. 521 00:30:16.760 --> 00:30:19.240 And then you with the, your design business, 522 00:30:19.240 --> 00:30:23.760 I think it's cool how you haven't really done any advertising. 523 00:30:24.240 --> 00:30:28.080 No, none or promotion zero. And these jobs, word of mouth, 524 00:30:28.080 --> 00:30:29.640 God just keeps giving you jobs, 525 00:30:29.880 --> 00:30:34.680 but I like how he's given him to you. Not like too many at once. 526 00:30:35.120 --> 00:30:37.200 Like literally they kind of come in one at a time. 527 00:30:37.200 --> 00:30:40.480 I feel like I'll get to this point where I'm like, Oh, nothing. I have nothing. 528 00:30:40.840 --> 00:30:42.960 And then all of a sudden it's like, yeah, yeah. 529 00:30:43.160 --> 00:30:48.040 And it's, and so I feel like he hasn't given us like too much where we can make 530 00:30:48.040 --> 00:30:49.960 work, but it's enough financially. 531 00:30:49.960 --> 00:30:54.520 It's enough and it's also enough where we can mirror our schedules and give you 532 00:30:54.520 --> 00:30:58.200 time. And, and with the way my schedule is, you know, 533 00:30:58.200 --> 00:31:02.640 in my off days and off pockets, we were able to work in giving you time. 534 00:31:02.640 --> 00:31:04.120 But then, yeah, as you mentioned, 535 00:31:04.120 --> 00:31:08.120 there is that struggle of where do we find family time, 536 00:31:08.160 --> 00:31:10.960 relaxing time, you work time, me work time. 537 00:31:11.640 --> 00:31:15.080 And that's the balance of working parents and kids, you know? 538 00:31:15.160 --> 00:31:17.120 Yeah. But it's kind of nice too. Cause it's like, 539 00:31:17.120 --> 00:31:21.920 I'm not working every day nine to five, like in the fall and the, um, 540 00:31:21.960 --> 00:31:26.560 and winter, like Thanksgiving and Christmas ish time this last year. 541 00:31:27.200 --> 00:31:31.760 Um, I had two huge jobs that we were then able to like tuck a bunch away 542 00:31:32.520 --> 00:31:34.240 to the timing of that. Cause that was, 543 00:31:36.080 --> 00:31:38.600 and you were pregnant with our third. Yeah, that was a little, 544 00:31:38.720 --> 00:31:40.680 I was a little, a little tired. 545 00:31:41.120 --> 00:31:42.360 We talked about how the timing worked out. 546 00:31:42.560 --> 00:31:46.560 Yeah. I had two jobs and, um, the timing, 547 00:31:46.560 --> 00:31:47.920 they were supposed to be separate. 548 00:31:48.480 --> 00:31:52.400 The one was supposed to be like early November that we would be like in the 549 00:31:52.400 --> 00:31:57.000 house, like working on the house. Our third baby was due November 1st. 550 00:31:57.200 --> 00:31:59.560 Someone asked me that last night and I was like, was he due the first? 551 00:31:59.600 --> 00:32:04.160 No. Yes. Yeah. I think so. Okay. So anyway, 552 00:32:04.160 --> 00:32:07.560 I choose a week late. Yeah. Yeah. So I was like, okay, yeah, sure. 553 00:32:07.680 --> 00:32:10.960 Actually when I said originally I could do it, I was like, yeah, no problem. 554 00:32:11.080 --> 00:32:15.440 Great. And then later I'm like, Oh my goodness. I'm, I'm literally due then. 555 00:32:15.640 --> 00:32:20.000 Yeah. And so anyway, I kept checking in like, Oh, are we still on time? 556 00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:23.240 Are we still on time? And they were like, yep, we're still on time. 557 00:32:23.680 --> 00:32:25.320 And I'm thinking like, okay. 558 00:32:25.600 --> 00:32:29.960 But also kind of was hoping it would be super delayed and the construction would 559 00:32:29.960 --> 00:32:33.640 be like super pushed back just for the timing. So anyway, 560 00:32:33.640 --> 00:32:36.080 it kind of was which worked out. 561 00:32:36.120 --> 00:32:38.960 And the reason you should explain the reason why you're worried about that is 562 00:32:38.960 --> 00:32:42.000 cause like we've learned with the first two kids, how important. 563 00:32:42.160 --> 00:32:45.000 Oh, I don't want to be out there a week postpartum. Exactly. 564 00:32:46.280 --> 00:32:49.880 Just even like a month. I'm not doing that. So, 565 00:32:50.040 --> 00:32:51.920 but I had to get the job done. I mean, I had to do it. 566 00:32:51.920 --> 00:32:56.240 So the first job I was like super pregnant, like almost due. 567 00:32:56.240 --> 00:32:59.880 That one was supposed to be done way earlier. And then this other one, 568 00:32:59.880 --> 00:33:03.040 she got that one done before the baby. We did barely, barely. Yeah. Well, 569 00:33:03.040 --> 00:33:08.040 I think it was wrapping up as I was like in bed a few days after your part was 570 00:33:08.360 --> 00:33:10.280 kind of hands off. Yeah. Yeah. So my part, 571 00:33:10.280 --> 00:33:13.440 I was able to send someone thankfully to like finish it up for me. But yeah. 572 00:33:13.440 --> 00:33:16.800 And then the next one was like three weeks postpartum, 573 00:33:16.800 --> 00:33:18.800 which worked out better than it would have. 574 00:33:18.880 --> 00:33:23.880 But also we were in the hospital with our third who had like a respiratory type 575 00:33:25.800 --> 00:33:27.480 congestion type virus. 576 00:33:28.160 --> 00:33:32.000 And I was three weeks postpartum or so training thing. 577 00:33:32.000 --> 00:33:36.000 Christmas was right there. It was a little, it was a lot. Um, 578 00:33:36.040 --> 00:33:37.920 obviously a big blessing financially, 579 00:33:37.920 --> 00:33:42.040 but also then it was nice to be able to tuck that away and then like not have to 580 00:33:42.040 --> 00:33:45.800 do anything for months because you know, 581 00:33:46.120 --> 00:33:49.320 our financial gap that we're always covered. 582 00:33:49.520 --> 00:33:53.440 You've had a few jobs, a few smaller jobs, but like, again, I can't, 583 00:33:53.520 --> 00:33:56.600 I don't know how many I could really take on at this point. So it's, yeah, 584 00:33:56.600 --> 00:34:00.240 I have one right now that's just a little more low key, which is good. Yeah. 585 00:34:00.280 --> 00:34:03.360 Yeah. I feel like, um, that's been an adjustment for sure, 586 00:34:03.360 --> 00:34:08.000 but definitely a huge blessing and, um, still figuring it out. 587 00:34:08.000 --> 00:34:10.600 I don't really know how to get it all done. We don't get it all done. 588 00:34:10.600 --> 00:34:14.159 Our house is a mess. Yeah. We have boys that try to destroy everything. 589 00:34:14.280 --> 00:34:16.440 But I think, yeah, through that though, 590 00:34:16.440 --> 00:34:20.000 we've learned a lot in terms of like how to budget better and how to like. 591 00:34:20.320 --> 00:34:24.040 Learn a lot. I was just thinking how to keep track of details. Yeah. 592 00:34:24.120 --> 00:34:25.040 And I think we both, 593 00:34:25.080 --> 00:34:29.320 one cool thing is we're both doing jobs that we didn't expect. Yeah. 594 00:34:29.360 --> 00:34:31.920 To be that we weren't necessarily aiming towards. And so, 595 00:34:32.280 --> 00:34:37.120 and I think going back to that identity thing that I had to realize when I left 596 00:34:37.120 --> 00:34:40.400 teaching was that if your identity is in Christ, 597 00:34:40.480 --> 00:34:43.520 if your identity is rooted in Christ, it doesn't matter what you're doing. 598 00:34:43.600 --> 00:34:44.840 And I love to tell students that, 599 00:34:44.840 --> 00:34:48.600 that who you are is more important than what you're doing. Yeah. 600 00:34:48.679 --> 00:34:50.560 And I'm careful when I tell students that because I'm like, 601 00:34:50.639 --> 00:34:53.719 you should be doing something. I'm not saying you don't have to do anything. 602 00:34:53.719 --> 00:34:54.560 You should be doing something, 603 00:34:54.679 --> 00:34:58.760 but never forget who you are and who you are as a child of God. Yeah. 604 00:34:58.800 --> 00:35:00.080 And so what I realized. 605 00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:03.920 through that transition, and I didn't even talk about that, but that year that I had 606 00:35:03.920 --> 00:35:09.920 in that military setting where I wasn't teaching, I wasn't working with kids, the Lord grew 607 00:35:09.920 --> 00:35:13.600 me big time and I was like, you know what, I'm just going to be bold in my faith, I'm 608 00:35:13.600 --> 00:35:17.480 going to talk to my co-workers, I'm going to make an impact as long as I'm here. 609 00:35:17.480 --> 00:35:21.880 And God opened up so many cool doors for me to share my faith with co-workers in ways 610 00:35:21.880 --> 00:35:26.040 that I never—and I had known these people for almost 10 years, and I'm sitting there 611 00:35:26.040 --> 00:35:31.320 talking to them, and that house story that you told of how God—I told everybody that 612 00:35:31.320 --> 00:35:33.680 story that way, and I'm like, isn't that crazy? 613 00:35:33.680 --> 00:35:34.680 God got us this house? 614 00:35:34.680 --> 00:35:40.080 And I was just bold in a new way, because I had realized, no, I'm a child of God, that's 615 00:35:40.080 --> 00:35:45.840 my identity, and it doesn't matter what my job is, I'm going to do it for His glory. 616 00:35:45.840 --> 00:35:51.280 And when you do that, when we do that together, that's kind of the direction we're moving. 617 00:35:51.280 --> 00:35:55.440 It's like, then the Lord opened up jobs for us to do things that we love and we're good 618 00:35:55.440 --> 00:36:01.040 at, and it's providing for our family, and we like it, and we never would have—if we 619 00:36:01.040 --> 00:36:04.560 had controls, we wouldn't have set it up this way. 620 00:36:04.560 --> 00:36:05.560 Yeah, for sure. 621 00:36:05.560 --> 00:36:11.440 And I think it also has put us both on a track of growth in—well, you and just what you 622 00:36:11.440 --> 00:36:14.680 shared, but also growth in teaching. 623 00:36:14.680 --> 00:36:18.520 This is a different caliber of teaching than in a classroom. 624 00:36:18.520 --> 00:36:25.000 But also, for me, knowing how to have clear boundaries and expectations with clients, 625 00:36:25.000 --> 00:36:31.360 which is something I've always been good at, to just be clear and also stand up and 626 00:36:31.360 --> 00:36:36.120 not let people just kind of—not push me around, but just kind of push me in whatever 627 00:36:36.120 --> 00:36:37.120 direction. 628 00:36:37.120 --> 00:36:43.040 I just always struggle to put my foot down and be like, no, that's not how I do it. 629 00:36:43.040 --> 00:36:50.000 And I've just learned a lot in regards to that, like just how a project should run, 630 00:36:50.000 --> 00:36:51.000 just all sorts of things like that. 631 00:36:51.000 --> 00:36:57.240 I feel like we've both grown a lot inside of those newer—or those paths, even, that 632 00:36:57.240 --> 00:36:58.240 we've taken. 633 00:36:58.240 --> 00:37:01.240 And we've gotten to work with each other a lot, which is really cool, too, to come 634 00:37:01.240 --> 00:37:05.840 oppose the different careers where you serve with me at Youth Group. 635 00:37:05.840 --> 00:37:10.400 You're super involved with the decisions we make for our youth group, and then I get 636 00:37:10.400 --> 00:37:14.280 to help you on my off days with your jobs, and sometimes I'll bring the kids, and I'll 637 00:37:14.280 --> 00:37:18.680 bring boxes to you or lunch or whatever, and so we get to kind of help each other out in 638 00:37:18.680 --> 00:37:20.440 our careers, which is really cool. 639 00:37:20.880 --> 00:37:26.360 When I was in the military, you never came to my work or teaching, so it was different. 640 00:37:26.360 --> 00:37:32.640 This is cool where we get to be around each other a lot, even on work days when we can, 641 00:37:32.640 --> 00:37:36.640 and bring the kids, and kids get to see what we do. 642 00:37:36.640 --> 00:37:37.640 They know what you do. 643 00:37:37.640 --> 00:37:38.640 They know what I do. 644 00:37:38.640 --> 00:37:43.840 And yeah, as you were saying, ways he's grown you, ways he's grown me, too. 645 00:37:43.840 --> 00:37:48.520 I've gotten to preach on a Sunday morning, which is something that scared the snot out 646 00:37:48.520 --> 00:37:49.520 of me two years ago. 647 00:37:49.600 --> 00:37:50.600 I would never want to do it. 648 00:37:50.600 --> 00:37:52.600 We're growing in different ways. 649 00:37:52.600 --> 00:37:56.760 Yeah, but again, when you submit, and you know where your identity is, and you submit 650 00:37:56.760 --> 00:38:01.920 to God and His plan, He opens up really cool doors and opportunities, and He won't just 651 00:38:01.920 --> 00:38:03.640 open them and push you through them. 652 00:38:03.640 --> 00:38:09.040 He prepares you, and that's the other thing is He puts people in your circle to help you 653 00:38:09.040 --> 00:38:10.400 in that regards, too. 654 00:38:10.400 --> 00:38:16.400 We've both had mentors and people pop up out of nowhere to help us through these seasons 655 00:38:16.400 --> 00:38:18.200 and transitions in what we're doing. 656 00:38:18.880 --> 00:38:21.320 Yeah, our parents have been super making it work, too. 657 00:38:21.320 --> 00:38:22.320 Oh, yeah. 658 00:38:22.320 --> 00:38:26.320 I mean, my mom's the reason that you are able to come to youth group every Wednesday. 659 00:38:26.320 --> 00:38:34.040 Yeah, I wouldn't be able to be here if it wasn't for a consistent every Wednesday it's 660 00:38:34.040 --> 00:38:35.040 covered. 661 00:38:35.040 --> 00:38:39.520 Yeah, it would be a little stressful trying to find a babysitter every single Wednesday. 662 00:38:39.520 --> 00:38:41.360 So yeah, that's been huge. 663 00:38:41.360 --> 00:38:45.080 But currently, you are coaching wrestling. 664 00:38:45.080 --> 00:38:46.080 Yeah. 665 00:38:46.080 --> 00:38:47.080 Yeah. 666 00:38:47.080 --> 00:38:48.520 Yeah, we're in the figure right now. 667 00:38:48.520 --> 00:38:49.520 It's okay. 668 00:38:49.520 --> 00:38:52.880 And that's how ministry works, where it's like sometimes you have just really busy seasons 669 00:38:52.880 --> 00:38:55.640 where we've kind of piled on some big events. 670 00:38:55.640 --> 00:39:00.440 Yeah, well, and you kind of missed that coaching sport aspect, so we're like, oh, I think we 671 00:39:00.440 --> 00:39:01.440 can handle it. 672 00:39:01.440 --> 00:39:02.440 Right. 673 00:39:02.440 --> 00:39:07.200 I had not coached wrestling, which is something I really enjoy and a passion of mine. 674 00:39:07.200 --> 00:39:10.440 I hadn't since I left teaching, so it'd been a couple years. 675 00:39:10.440 --> 00:39:15.440 And then the Lord opened up multiple opportunities to coach this year, and so we felt like we 676 00:39:15.520 --> 00:39:16.520 should take one. 677 00:39:16.520 --> 00:39:17.520 Yeah. 678 00:39:17.520 --> 00:39:20.160 Well, and this one felt like the lower key one. 679 00:39:20.160 --> 00:39:21.160 Does that make sense? 680 00:39:21.160 --> 00:39:22.160 Yeah. 681 00:39:22.160 --> 00:39:26.840 And we're learning a lot right now about, oh, man, we need to do some things with our 682 00:39:26.840 --> 00:39:30.680 schedule and space out events and make sure we're aware of what we're saying yes to and 683 00:39:30.680 --> 00:39:33.200 committing to, which is good. 684 00:39:33.200 --> 00:39:37.160 And it's a couple more weeks here in the busyness of it. 685 00:39:37.160 --> 00:39:40.480 And that's kind of how ministry works and ebbs and flows. 686 00:39:40.480 --> 00:39:43.480 But we could do a better job next year of just spacing things out a little bit. 687 00:39:43.480 --> 00:39:44.480 We're learning. 688 00:39:44.520 --> 00:39:46.840 So, yeah, always be teachable. 689 00:39:46.840 --> 00:39:48.400 Always be willing to grow. 690 00:39:48.400 --> 00:39:49.400 Write things down. 691 00:39:49.400 --> 00:39:50.400 So you remember. 692 00:39:50.400 --> 00:39:52.840 My mom always says assess and adjust. 693 00:39:52.840 --> 00:39:53.840 Assess and adjust. 694 00:39:53.840 --> 00:39:54.840 That's good. 695 00:39:54.840 --> 00:39:55.840 Yes. 696 00:39:55.840 --> 00:39:56.840 Yeah. 697 00:39:56.840 --> 00:39:57.840 That's kind of erratic. 698 00:39:57.840 --> 00:39:58.840 Yeah. 699 00:39:58.840 --> 00:39:59.840 And so day to day, our life is. 700 00:39:59.840 --> 00:40:00.840 It is. 701 00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:03.580 is a little crazy and loud and hard to have. 702 00:40:00.840 --> 00:40:00.840 703 00:40:03.580 --> 00:40:05.100 That's why this podcast is really fun 704 00:40:05.100 --> 00:40:08.500 because we can have a mostly uninterrupted conversation. 705 00:40:08.500 --> 00:40:10.140 Our baby is making noises in the corner, 706 00:40:10.140 --> 00:40:12.340 but usually we can't talk for 45 minutes 707 00:40:12.340 --> 00:40:15.380 without being interrupted by at least 20 times by a kid. 708 00:40:15.380 --> 00:40:17.780 So that's fun. 709 00:40:17.780 --> 00:40:20.340 We should keep doing this for that reason. 710 00:40:20.340 --> 00:40:21.840 Yeah, so just, I don't know, 711 00:40:21.840 --> 00:40:23.980 anything else to add from just kind of where we're at, 712 00:40:23.980 --> 00:40:25.540 what life looks like now? 713 00:40:25.540 --> 00:40:26.460 Yeah, I mean, I don't think, 714 00:40:26.460 --> 00:40:29.700 I don't feel like we really have it all figured out 715 00:40:29.740 --> 00:40:31.100 at the moment. 716 00:40:31.100 --> 00:40:33.660 Yeah, people keep asking, like, how is it with three kids? 717 00:40:33.660 --> 00:40:35.580 And I'm like, up until like this week, 718 00:40:35.580 --> 00:40:38.460 I feel like it's like, oh yeah, it's not really a big deal. 719 00:40:38.460 --> 00:40:39.620 And then our two-year-old has become 720 00:40:39.620 --> 00:40:41.060 a full-blown two-year-old 721 00:40:41.060 --> 00:40:42.660 and is into absolutely everything. 722 00:40:42.660 --> 00:40:46.900 And I was just like, what is happening? 723 00:40:46.900 --> 00:40:48.660 So I don't know, I think the answer maybe 724 00:40:48.660 --> 00:40:50.820 is different this week than it was last week. 725 00:40:50.820 --> 00:40:52.460 I feel like my answer is different every day. 726 00:40:52.460 --> 00:40:54.180 Probably true. 727 00:40:54.180 --> 00:40:55.140 But yeah, it's fun. 728 00:40:55.140 --> 00:40:57.340 It's fun talking back and seeing how we ended up here 729 00:40:57.340 --> 00:41:00.220 and just the Lord's fingerprints on it all. 730 00:41:00.220 --> 00:41:01.060 Yeah. 731 00:41:01.060 --> 00:41:03.260 And just, that would just be my encouragement is. 732 00:41:03.260 --> 00:41:05.580 Yeah, and also just like how, like in the moment, 733 00:41:05.580 --> 00:41:06.660 you might not see where it's going. 734 00:41:06.660 --> 00:41:07.780 Like, it makes no sense. 735 00:41:07.780 --> 00:41:08.620 Oh, there were so many moments. 736 00:41:08.620 --> 00:41:10.820 And even like quitting your guard job, 737 00:41:10.820 --> 00:41:12.900 like, or the civilian job. 738 00:41:12.900 --> 00:41:13.740 Yeah. 739 00:41:13.740 --> 00:41:15.660 We were like, so what was the point? 740 00:41:15.660 --> 00:41:16.500 Yeah. 741 00:41:16.500 --> 00:41:17.320 But then looking back, it's like, 742 00:41:17.320 --> 00:41:19.780 oh, this and that and this and that. 743 00:41:19.780 --> 00:41:22.580 And like, it makes sense looking back, 744 00:41:22.580 --> 00:41:23.900 but it's like, first of all, 745 00:41:23.900 --> 00:41:25.900 maybe not everything is supposed to be forever. 746 00:41:26.100 --> 00:41:28.140 There's seasons of things, 747 00:41:28.140 --> 00:41:30.500 there's seasons of teaching that is doing something specific, 748 00:41:30.500 --> 00:41:32.180 but it was never supposed to be forever. 749 00:41:32.180 --> 00:41:35.620 There's season, one year of that job, 750 00:41:35.620 --> 00:41:37.300 and it wasn't supposed to be forever. 751 00:41:37.300 --> 00:41:40.260 It was just a, almost like a holding place until, 752 00:41:40.260 --> 00:41:42.380 cause this, I don't know that we would have pursued ministry 753 00:41:42.380 --> 00:41:44.900 anywhere, like this job, 754 00:41:44.900 --> 00:41:47.060 if we would have been searching for like our, 755 00:41:47.060 --> 00:41:50.380 you know, like our next meaningful ministry 756 00:41:50.380 --> 00:41:53.020 or I don't know, teaching job at the time, 757 00:41:53.020 --> 00:41:54.660 this wouldn't have been available. 758 00:41:54.660 --> 00:41:58.260 So that placeholder of the guard was like essential. 759 00:41:58.260 --> 00:42:00.140 And I grew a lot in that time and yeah, 760 00:42:00.140 --> 00:42:00.980 but they're like, 761 00:42:00.980 --> 00:42:02.980 that got us to the timeline of when this job 762 00:42:02.980 --> 00:42:03.820 would have been available. 763 00:42:03.820 --> 00:42:04.660 Yeah. 764 00:42:04.660 --> 00:42:06.460 There's so many moments where you can't see the full picture 765 00:42:06.460 --> 00:42:08.900 like you said, and it's frustrating and confusing. 766 00:42:08.900 --> 00:42:10.420 Doesn't make sense. 767 00:42:10.420 --> 00:42:13.380 But man, if you just continue to pray and trust 768 00:42:13.380 --> 00:42:15.500 and follow the Lord's peace, 769 00:42:15.500 --> 00:42:17.300 then you do have these moments down the road where you're 770 00:42:17.300 --> 00:42:18.820 like, oh man, that's so cool. 771 00:42:18.820 --> 00:42:20.220 And I'm thankful for that period, 772 00:42:20.220 --> 00:42:22.780 even though at the time I was like frustrated by it. 773 00:42:22.780 --> 00:42:25.260 And so, yeah, that's really cool. 774 00:42:25.260 --> 00:42:29.180 But yeah, we, despite the chaos, love where we're at. 775 00:42:29.180 --> 00:42:30.380 Yeah. 776 00:42:30.380 --> 00:42:33.220 Even the busy times and no, 777 00:42:33.220 --> 00:42:34.500 and I think we love where we're at 778 00:42:34.500 --> 00:42:36.140 because we know it's where we're supposed to be. 779 00:42:36.140 --> 00:42:36.980 Yeah. 780 00:42:36.980 --> 00:42:38.300 We would like a little more sleep, but otherwise. 781 00:42:38.300 --> 00:42:39.140 A little more sleep. 782 00:42:39.140 --> 00:42:39.980 Yeah. 783 00:42:39.980 --> 00:42:40.820 It's coming. 784 00:42:40.820 --> 00:42:41.660 It's coming. 785 00:42:41.660 --> 00:42:42.500 Baby's sleeping pretty good right now. 786 00:42:42.500 --> 00:42:43.340 He does sleep pretty good. 787 00:42:43.340 --> 00:42:44.180 I sleep pretty good. 788 00:42:44.180 --> 00:42:45.620 You're the one that has to get up. 789 00:42:45.620 --> 00:42:46.980 The other ones have been getting up early. 790 00:42:46.980 --> 00:42:47.820 It's all right. 791 00:42:47.820 --> 00:42:51.420 Everything's a phase, a season and we love it. 792 00:42:51.420 --> 00:42:52.260 So. 793 00:42:52.460 --> 00:42:53.300 Yeah. 794 00:42:53.300 --> 00:42:54.140 So we're thankful. 795 00:42:54.140 --> 00:42:55.820 And then just final encouragement would just be 796 00:42:55.820 --> 00:42:58.980 to know your identity, root it in Christ, 797 00:42:58.980 --> 00:43:00.500 submit to his plan. 798 00:43:00.500 --> 00:43:01.340 Yeah. 799 00:43:01.340 --> 00:43:03.700 And you'll never know what doors 800 00:43:03.700 --> 00:43:06.100 and opportunities the Lord will open up for you. 801 00:43:06.100 --> 00:43:06.940 So, yeah. 802 00:43:06.940 --> 00:43:09.380 So thank you for watching episode two 803 00:43:09.380 --> 00:43:11.020 of the Outnumbered podcast. 804 00:43:11.020 --> 00:43:13.500 Again, if you missed episode one, that's our story. 805 00:43:13.500 --> 00:43:17.700 We go into our younger days as teenagers and all that. 806 00:43:17.700 --> 00:43:19.460 So make sure you check that out, 807 00:43:19.460 --> 00:43:21.060 but thanks for watching episode two. 808 00:43:21.060 --> 00:43:22.500 We'll see you guys next time.