The One Where I Quit My Job

Eyy so this is a post I’m writing. Feels pretty weird, not gonna lie. As many of you know, I have been teaching now for five years. It’s my career. But today I did a crazy thing – I decided not to teach next year. Now don’t think I’m abandoning all responsibility and putting my family in jeopardy (maybe next time, Trebek). I‘m still going to sub to pay the bills. But I’ve decided after much prayer and consideration and talking and talking and talking to my husband, the best and most supportive human being in the universe, that it is time for me to pursue my passion. You may be able to guess this, but my passion is writing. I love writing and I love creating and I just don’t get enough time to do that as a full-time teacher. 

That’s not the whole story, though.

On top of pursuing my passion, there is a very real problem with burnout. If I’m being completely honest, I just haven’t been a good teacher to my kids this last year because I’m so dang tired all the time. I may one day return to teaching, but for now, I’m ineffective in my role. The Bible instructs us that we should do everything to the best of your ability, and I am just plain not doing that.

I want a chance to focus on my family. Far too often my husband and sweet baby toddler are the first ones to suffer from my inability to juggle all my responsibilities. They should be getting the delicious chocolate truffles from the assorted heart-shaped box that is Kayla, and not the weird apricot nut thing that’s still left after a week and a half. Subbing and writing will not only give me the freedom to focus on myself and my passion but I will also be able to devote much more of myself to the ones who matter most.

As you can imagine, we have not made this decision lightly. Kai and I have sought council from people we trust, and prayed together and separately about this and we truly believe that we are in the right place for a fantastic season of growth. Our church family is amazing, our pastors are truly challenging us in so many healthy ways, Asher’s preschool is perfect, and we are finally at a place that affords us the freedom to make these kinds of decisions.

It’s gonna be great!

I’m really excited about the next season of my life. As with anything worthwhile, there is a pretty intense risk factor involved. How is this going to affect us financially? What if I’m not good enough to make this work? Am I wasting my time?

But literally this just makes so much sense to me. God has given me the opportunity to make this decision in a way that allows me to still help support my family. I am so ready to be challenged and challenging through what I believe is a particular gifting I’ve been neglecting.  It’s like that old quote from Chariots of Fire in which Eric Lidell says “When I run, I feel God’s pleasure.” When I write, it feels like worship. I want more of my life to be directly glorifying to Him.

So I guess what I’m saying here is if you like my stuff, get ready because I’m going to be writing a whole heck of a lot more. And if you know of anybody looking for content creators or freelance writers, hook a homegirl up! I love you all and I can’t wait to see what God is going to do.

That is all. For now. 🙂

P.s. If you’re interested, I’ve been reading Quitter by Jon Acuff.
He is a fantastic writer and I’ve followed his stuff for a few years now. When I asked for the book for Christmas a few years ago I was actually disappointed that it was about quitting your career because that’s not the place that I was in at the time. Turns out it was just waiting for me to be ready for it. Check it out if you’re interested!