Stony Brook, New York

I referenced a possible change for our family in my last post, and now it is official:  we are moving to New York this summer!  It still feels a bit surreal to even type these words especially in light of the fact that by all accounts it appeared we would be in Waco for at least another year.

The reason for the move is that Brad was offered a position to teach at The Stony Brook School (www.stonybrookschool.org) Stony Brook is a Christian college prep school, which also offers boarding for students. The school is for grades 7-12, (both Anna and Jacob will be students at SBS), and Brad will teach in their history department.  Part of what is so amazing about this job is that Brad wasn’t looking for a job.  He still needs to write his dissertation (his new summer project for the next several summers), but another Baylor graduate student who has been teaching at Stony Brook for the past four years contacted Brad about the position and asked him to apply.  Throughout this graduate school process (all seven and a half years of it!), I have tried to imagine the various places we might live once Brad went on the job market.  I can honestly say that New York never crossed my mind.  This is not because New York is such a bad place to live—quite the contrary.  It just never worked its way into my daydreams. 

Yet here we are, facing another adventure as a family.  At church today, someone mentioned the word adventure in reference to our upcoming move, and I laughingly said, “Adventure and Brummeler seem to be synonymous with each other.”  There are many parts of my life that have turned out quite differently than I ever imagined.  I would never have thought moving would play so prominently in my life.  I am really hoping that this next move takes us well past the five year mark.  There was also a point in my life (during our Chicago days) when I thought I would never teach again.  This wasn’t because of any awful experience, but I just didn’t see myself back in the classroom.  Yet I have just spent the last five years of my life very much involved in the day-to-day life called the classroom, and I am very grateful for that.  I am not sure what this next stage holds for me.  My biggest hope is to work on my Masters in Spiritual Theology/Spiritual Formation.  Most likely, I will look for a way to combine a little work and a little study together.  It would be nice if I could get the family settled and over the hump of a new transition, and then figure out my niche. 

This past week has been an emotionally charged one for me.  It was full of “last-times.”  I turned in my last set of grades to Live Oak.  I planned and participated in my last closing ceremonies at Live Oak.  And I said goodbye to my last set of students at Live Oak.  Ugh.  Saying goodbye is never easy even when you feel God is leading you in a new direction.  I have probably said the word “bittersweet” a 100 times in the last two weeks, but it sums up so well what I am feeling at the moment. 

Today I was on Facebook after a long absence.  I think I last updated my status in January.  Anyway, my status comment from last January caught my attention.  I wrote something along the lines of wondering what the new year would hold.  I couldn’t help but smile as I read those words.  I like to think I have my life pretty well figured out, but really I don’t have a clue.  Thanks be to God for his daily presence in my life.  He knows what is going on.