We're halfway there, sorta

Several people have been asking about updates regarding Stefan's school paperwork process, so instead of repeating myself, I'll just post the answer here!

Stefan met with his school's principal and had a really positive meeting, phew! This man's signature is the first one we needed in order to start the request process to have both Stefan's reduced hours approved and for Stefan to be allowed to receive an income from a non-school board source. The principal was very positive when he heard about Stefan's involvement with a church (this is the first anybody he works with has heard anything about this whatsoever) and warned him to guard his time. He was so relieved when he heard Stefan's situation because when the meeting first started he was terrified that Stefan was requesting to transfer schools -and he doesn't want to lose Stefan completely! We knew the principal has been involved to a degree with things from his membership in the State church, so we were hoping this would contribute towards a positive reaction, and because of how the conversation went, we're certain of it. We're really thankful that God has placed this man as Stefan's boss because this is another example of how he has enabled Stefan to do greater good in the Kingdom (previously in some things he's done in Religion classes, and now in that he's ok with Stefan reducing hours to be more involved with our church). *Bonus: Stefan also asked permission to leave his position on the teachers' union committee, which was granted. This frees up a chunk of time each week as well as ridding him of a set of phone calls that always seemed to happen. He still has two other school projects he's part of, but leaving this was a help!

What next? We need to hear the official approval from the school board both for the reduction of hours and the secondary income source. The principal seems to think the school board will not object given the principal's endorsement, but nobody can say for sure. Please keep this remaining decision in your prayers!

In conjunction with this...we have committed to financially cutting back on things this year in the hopes that we can make greater strides forward. This is never an easy thing to do, especially since I feel like the only things I buy are groceries, but we're really going to try to work on this. For this reason, however, it's important that we receive this approval from the school board for the secondary income source. It would also be really great if I were able to receive some sort of steady income.

Freelance work is great, but it's always so iffy. Jan/Feb and the summer months are typically dead times for me, so it's especially in-my-face right now. Also, because so many things were up in the air at the time decisions needed to be made, I decided not to teach another English class for the spring semester (but I will continue the grad student scientific English courses). Frankly, I will not miss the stress, however, even the pittance it paid was helpful, so now we're back to square one. While I'm legally able to work in Germany, finding a place for me to work here is just insanely difficult for a host of reasons.

Also, at 32, I'm rather sick of always patching things together, either by moonlighting to supplement a ridiculously tiny non-profit paycheck or by working FT in a job that was really about the paycheck, or now cobbling together this freelance editing gig. God's blessed me with a resume full of diverse work experience and with opportunities to acquire some really great skills that translate well into a host of things, but there doesn't seem to be a place for me to utilize them here in Germany and earn a steady income. I wish we could afford for me to just volunteer somewhere and spend the majority of my time working with the church.

Speaking of the church -last week I met with a couple of women from the church to talk about the women's ministry (or the lack thereof). We had an encouraging time together and will be meeting again next week to plan a women's breakfast with childcare in February. Last Sunday Stefan gave the announcements and strongly encouraged the men to sign up to help with childcare so even the mothers could attend, so we're hoping to see all age groups of women represented. We have a real smattering of ages and life-situations represented between those who work during the weekdays, those who don't, those with/out kids, etc. Our goal is to bring about greater unity among the women in the church and encourage them in their walk with Christ. Previous (irregular) women's activities have only been attended by the elderly and women from the village, and while there are lots of good things about that and valid reasons that it's been that way, even that's no longer happening because the woman who organized it is no longer around. So lots of challenges, but lots of opportunity, too!

So please pray about the school board's decision (we have no idea when we can expect to hear from them), financial hopes for us/employment for me, and the future women's ministry at the church. THANK YOU!