A Man of Many Talents

So much for a semi-daily blog, huh? At the risk of stating the obvious, I will admit that I have been a little absent from blogging over the past two months. But what may not be so obvious are my myriad reasons for doing so. Changes are coming, my friends, changes are coming. And those changes have much to do with my absence and even more to do with why I write today.

Today marks both the end of a chapter and the start of a new one for Katie and me – and really for all of our immediate family members as well. For starters, today is significant as this is the last day for me at my current work location, the same location at which I have been for nine months now (nine months, now there’s an interesting choice of words that relates to another upcoming change). Tomorrow morning I begin work at a new location, with new co-workers and a very different outlook on my career. I am staying with my current employer, but I am transferring to a new branch where I will work part-time hours. Today is also the day that marks my ‘official’ acceptance into the graduate program at Converse College in Spartanburg. I say ‘official’ because we were fairly certain all along that I would be accepted, but the actual final decision was made yesterday when the graduate committee met.

As a result of my acceptance into the master’s program, the part-time status at work is necessitated by that decision I made to go back to school. I will be in school full-time as I try to finish as quickly as possible so I can begin teaching as quickly as possible. In many ways, this will be the beginning of the fulfillment of a dream that I have and have had for some time. Without philosophizing about dreams and desires too much and boring you with some emotional story about me trying to “find myself,” I will say this: I have spent the past few years being fairly successful at jobs I can’t stand; I think it’s time to go after something I know I will love.

This decision-making process has indeed been emotional and it has been tough. It affects and will affect so many of the people that I love and that, in and of itself, has forced me to pause and really consider everything – and everyone – involved. Know that I have done exactly that.

And while I have your attention, I want to let you know that one passage from Matthew 25 has particularly helped me during this process. The Parable of the Talents is one of Jesus’ parables that I would normally put in the category of ‘uncomfortable’ as it has a tendency to make people – including myself - at least a little uneasy. Recently, however, I have taken it as more of a challenge. I really believe that God expects us to take chances for Him (or steps out on faith, if you will) while we are on earth. He is not, I believe, so much concerned with what these chances are as long as they are something (that’s probably a grammatically incorrect sentence, but hang in there with me). After reflecting on that parable and what Jesus’ intention was, I think the main point has to do with the one-talented servant and his laziness. I think God is saying to that servant and to us as well: “If you would have tried anything I could have blessed it. If I don’t like it, then I won’t bless it. But please try something.” The point is that this one-talented servant didn’t try anything at all. He took his talent and buried it in the ground. As a result, Jesus calls him wicked and worthless. Personally, I don’t want to be wicked and worthless. So I took the parable as a challenge. And I really started to think about what my talents are and how I could use them to not only do what I want to do, but – and more importantly - what God wants me to do as well.

So here I am. I’m in my last day at my current branch, twelve days away from going back to school and just a few days away from moving in with my in-laws.

Gasp.

Yes, you read that correctly. Katie and I are moving in with her parents. Which I do not think is really as bad as it may initially sound. Their current situation – big house, plenty of room, supportive of our decision – gives us the opportunity to accomplish what we need to accomplish. With Katie still lacking a class and student teaching before she graduates and with a new baby on the way, this gives us both the chance to afford and finish school without a mortgage payment and all those other bills that come with owning a house. Which of course, leads to the final step in this process: selling our house.

We have had some people express interest in the house and have actually shown it quite a few times, but we obviously have yet to sell it. Once the house is sold, we will be free and clear of major bills and we will be able to really concentrate on school and making sure our new addition (somewhere around December 9th) has all that he or she needs.

So, in the end, this decision and these changes have as much to do with me as they do with my family and my God. I truly believe that I can make a difference as a teacher (and hopefully one day as a professor) and this profession will provide with the opportunity to pursue other things that are important to me and my growing family.

I think I am finally beginning to learn what is truly important in life, what it is that really matters (learning that your wife is pregnant will cause a man to really start thinking about those sorts of things). It may have taken me a while to grow up (not that I am necessarily there yet) and realize that there is more to life than 49er football and Bruce Willis movies, but I think I am beginning to learn. And for those of you who are reading this and have hung in there with me all these years, I thank you for your support – past, present and future. I am under no false pretenses that this will be easy, but I do know that I am passionate about it and this is what I really want to do.

And I promise that I will try to keep my blog updated on a more regular basis!