meghan poppins

no more job searching for me! i've been browsing craigs list since i moved to nash for daycares and families that were hiring. i came across an ad the other night when i just happened to notice "ETC" at the bottom of the jobs section. there was a brand new posting for a family that was looking for a nanny and they sounded just wonderful. is it too cheesy if i copy and paste their ad here? i don't think so either. this is why i immediately jumped on it:

We are a family of 4 in need of a experienced, fun, loving, and intuitive nanny for our 2 kids (equally fun and loving!) while my husband and I work (full time).

Our daughter is 3.5 years, vibrant, energetic, smart, and loves all imaginative play from cooking to flying airplanes.
Our son is 9mos, sweet, an "easy" baby, and enjoys exploring, crawling, and getting into everything.

We are most interested in someone who:
- has some experience babysitting/nannying
- has strong Christian morals and values
- is vibrant, energetic, and will interact with our kids on their level
- is creative and intuitive
- is available Monday - Friday (aprox. 7:30am - 5:30pm)
- is willing to watch our children at our home

they sound great, don't they!! i sent my resume and references and was very excited when i had an email from them the next day. since i have already done this a couple of times with other families and not heard anything back, i didn't really get my hopes up. in the email they asked me a few questions they wanted answered before interviewing in person. again, i tried to not get too excited since i wasn't guaranteed an interview yet. when they called me to meet in person, i couldn't help but to start wanting it pretty bad.

the only setback i had was that they live right outside of nashville, so it's about a 20-25 minute drive. selfishly, i thought of the money i would be spending on gas. i was quickly convicted about wanting to try and hang on to my money, and realized that spending the money on gas to drive to this family every day to serve them and care for their little ones would be much more glorifying to God than saving it or spending it on crap that doesn't matter. the pay has nothing to do with why i want this job anyways, and it will provide more than enough for necessities. (this conviction was largely in thanks to joy beth having the same conviction about her car being broken into a few days ago.)

i'm so thankful that i was convicted about this and my heart was in the right place before i met them, but it made me want the job even more. driving to their house was spent praying that i would cling to the sovereignty of God whether they hired me or not.

if i didn't really want it before meeting them, i certainly did afterwards. they told me they would call later after they finished all of their interviews. i told hillary that if they hired me i might have tears of happiness! (i didn't, but i think it's only because i don't cry very much.) i usually leave my phone lying around the apartment, but last night it was glued to my hand. the first time it rang after i got home i gasped and hillary and i both became a little more alert. however, i looked to see who it was and go "oh hillary, it's your mom." (sorry vicki, i was happy to hear from you!) the whole winter clan (with the exception of hill, obviously) is at the lake right now, so we ended up skyping with them so we could see everybody. while we were talking to vicki and tori my phone rang again, but this time it was who i had been waiting for! i yelled "it's them!" and jumped up to answer it - as i was saying hello hillary was still excitedly going "it's them" in the background. trying to control my hope and excitement at this point was nonexistent, so i was very happy when they offered me the job!

please join me in praying for this time of transition for me and the family. they've just moved to TN and are still getting settled.

this is a great week - fireworks, a job and my mom, aunts and cousin will be here tomorrow!! i have lots of stuff planned and have even made lists of places to go, complete with addresses and hours of operation, and i think the fun is going to begin with dinner at loveless cafe tomorrow night!!

-meghan