Puzzle
Piece #1
By now
everyone should know that Karisa and I are in Yucca Valley, California. But not
everyone has heard how we ended up here, this is that story.
In October
of 2013, Karisa and I started to look for jobs. We applied first to SPH a
school in Indonesia, interviewed with them, were high up on their list, but
were then told they had accepted another couple to come and teach for them that
has experience. We then applied to many other overseas schools that had
positions for the both of us. These schools were in Thailand, Japan, Germany,
and many more places.
When we
realized that God was telling us that we necessarily shouldn’t go overseas, we
started to look in the United States for jobs as well. We applied to many
schools that had positions for the both of us, and yet all of them were either
already filled, or they cut us out of the application process. We started to
get discouraged and thought of our options in Canada. However, Karisa and I
decided that it would be easier for me to find and get a job in the states than
it would be for her to get everything cleared in Canada.
I proceeded
to send out resumes all over the country. I sent resumes and applications to
every school on ACSI (Association of Christian Schools International) and CSI
(Christian Schools International) that had a music position opening. Out of all
of the 20 or so applications I sent out, I received maybe 3 replies, one of
which asked when I could do a preliminary interview with them. Two days later,
I was on the phone with the principal of Joshua Springs Christian School
talking about myself and what I knew - I let her know that I was married. The
principal asked me what my wife did and I said Karisa had a Physical Education major,
the principal said “no way!? We have a PE opening!” I then mentioned that she
also had Special Education minor, the principal then said, “the last PE teacher
also did resource! Tell your wife to fill out an application and we’ll see what
happens.”
The Tuesday
of the next week Karisa did a phone interview with the principal and everything
went just as well as my interview. When Karisa finished talking with the
school, she said to me, it would be really nice if we could get a job by the
end of this week.
At this
time we were kind of in stress mode because Karisa’s parents were taking us and
her family and Opa and Oma to the Netherlands and we were leaving the coming
Friday.
That Friday
at 1:59 PM, we received an email letting us know that we had been approved and
that we were accepted to teach in Yucca Valley, California for the 2014-15
school year!
Puzzle
Piece #2
This past
summer we decided to rent a house in Yucca. While looking, we found a place
located on Sioux Ave. This is significant to us since we both went to college
in Sioux Center, Sioux County Iowa. We looked at it and liked it, though kept
looking for other places in case this one didn’t pan out. But we just couldn’t
find anything else that we liked as much as we did the little Sioux Ave place. So
we decided to rent it!
Puzzle
Piece #3
 |
| Yes, that is me, the only guy in a class of women. |
As a
requirement from the school for me, I was to take a music class named after the
creator of it entitled Orff: Music for Children. While looking for it I had to
make sure it fit into my schedule for the summer. My parents had planned a
summer vacation starting on the 13th of July right after my best
friend was getting married on the 12th, and there was a wedding on
the 2nd of August of Karisa’s college roommate. Low and behold an
Orff class, two weeks long, on Prince Edward Island, starting on the 21st
of July and going until the 1st of August. I jumped on it and took
it, it was more practical than the elementary music class I took at Dordt, and
it cost nothing to me as the school was paying for it!
God was and
still is holding us to Joshua Springs Christian School and he is letting us
know day after day that this is the place for us. Each puzzle piece just
strengthened our justification for coming here.
Emil Out-
