To explain why, I have to back up about a year and a half.
Last year was Tim's tenure year. (Well, technically this year is his tenure year, but he elected to be evaluated a year early.) If you're not part of a university community, let me assure you: tenure is a Big Deal. Up until that point, a professor's career progresses through something like a funnel. He (or she, but since I'm writing about a he I'll call our Everyprofessor a he as well) graduates from college. He decides to continue his education, while some of his fellow graduates take other paths. This is the entrance to the funnel. He gets accepted to a Ph.D. program. He passes his qualifying exams. He researches, writes, and successfully defends his dissertation. At each step, the funnel narrows a little more. He hits the neck of the funnel when, unlike many equally talented and hardworking peers, he achieves a job offer as a tenure-track university professor. And then, after having several years to prove his value to the university, he is evaluated for tenure. If he makes it, he has Arrived. Not that there aren't career goals after that, but they are individually chosen. Tenure is the final seal of approval on Everyprofessor's identity. A professor he truly is, and a professor he will likely remain for the rest of his life.
So, as Tim prepared for his tenure evaluation, he naturally did some thinking about his future. He thought about what would happen if he didn't make tenure--where else would he apply to teach, or would he look into changing careers entirely? And he thought about what would happen if he did make tenure--was this really his calling, the thing he was supposed to do for the rest of his life? Thinking led to dreaming led to exploring...and last February we traveled to Columbus, OH for Tim to interview for a position working with Intervarsity Christian Fellowship's Graduate and Faculty Ministries at Ohio State University. (He was ultimately offered the job and accepted, otherwise I wouldn't be writing about it!)
Tim's new position will have him mentoring graduate students. It pulls together strands from so many areas of his life up until now: his educational and work experience, his love of studying and teaching the Bible (including some seminary classes, which he took years ago in case God would ever call him into ministry), and even his two years living and working in China (a large percentage of the graduate students in the fellowship are foreign students). It feels like this is what he's been preparing to do all along. It is still scary to walk away from a career that he has spent so many years investing in, not to mention walking away from a salary into a job where he will have to raise his own support, but we are excited about what is to come!
So, we have a For Sale sign in the yard. This is the first house we ever owned, and our five and a half years here hold many milestones and memories. This is where two of our children joined our family. This is where the morning sun streaming through our living room windows makes the wood floor glow. This is where we've hosted family and friends, and the home base from which we made the short(ish) drive to spend precious visits with my grandmother. This is where the hill in the backyard that is such a pain to take care of in the summer becomes a sledding paradise with every snow. This is where we've loved three children who didn't stay with us, and seen the human complexity of poverty and generational dysfunction. This house has been a blessing, and we are so thankful for our time here!
Columbus will be good, too (and still close to my grandmother!), but it will likely be a very different kind of good. We are very excited to once again be living in a place with some diversity. Daniel can't wait for a good city bus system that will give him access to shopping, especially for electronics. It will also give him more options for getting a job, something he would very much like to do. Esther has already become a die-hard fan of OSU. When we were in Columbus for the interview, my great uncle (yes, I have family in Columbus! And Tim has roots there as well!) taught her the O-H-I-O cheer. She and Tim watch all the football games on TV, and she drew him this Brutus Buckeye from memory. She also harbors dreams of running into gymnast Gabby Douglas, who now trains in Columbus.
Right now, the plan calls for us to move in early summer. Tim has already informed his university that he won't be returning in the fall, and it's unlikely they'll be offering summer classes in his subjects, so we just need to wait for the kids to get out of school and for the house to sell. The housing market is terrible here, so that is a matter for much prayer! Tim does not have all his support raised yet and probably won't until after we move and he has the chance to meet more people who consider OSU's graduate students part of "their" ministry field that they want to invest in. So we are thinking that he will go part-time at first and also take care of Joel a lot so that I can work full or part time (not sure which we want yet!) and bring in the rest of the income that we need. I am part-way through the process of getting licensed as an Ohio public school teacher, with accreditation in teaching English and Language Arts and English to Speakers of Other Languages. I've always loved teaching English, and my experiences with my own kids have taught me a thing or two about how the system works (or doesn't) for unusual learners. So there are some exciting changes in store for me too.
