Jim, The Game-Changer...and a Peek Into the Past. WARNING: This Post is LONG!!

I've spent a lot of time this past week just letting the reality of our new adventure sink in.  I've also started the early stages of planning.  At the suggestion of my mom and aunt, I have begun filling a notebook with questions I need answered and to-do lists that I know will eventually number pages and pages in length.  There is so much to think about, and much of it is stuff that simply wasn't on the radar when we moved to Singapore ten years ago.  Back in 2002, we had to graduate, get married, wait for the movers to come and pack up the wedding gifts that we did ship to Singapore, and count down the days until July 22nd, our "game-changing" day.  Today, we have a house, two children, and a life here in Sioux Falls, so I'm guessing that preparing to move overseas will be just a tad more involved this time around!

In addition to all of the planning and thinking, there have been many overwhelming waves of gratitude.  When we moved to Singapore, it soon became clear that we had embarked upon the journey and experience of a lifetime.  The opportunity to work at SAS and learn from the experiences of the students we taught and the teachers we worked with was incredible.  Living in Asia and being able to travel the world, all while doing what we both knew we were called to do, was nothing short of a gift from God.  The memory of all that we were able to do while in Singapore is flooding back this week, and the realization that a second experience of a lifetime is upon us really makes me stop and thank God for this wondrous blessing.  This time, it is magnified by the fact that we have two beautiful children to share it with!

I believe with 100% of my being that going to Norway is part of God's plan for our family.  I also believe that God has lots and lots of helpers here on Earth, and I'd be remiss in my gratitude if I didn't mention the one who has certainly helped orchestrate this next adventure, much as he helped orchestrate the first.  Many of you reading will know who I'm talking about, but for those of you who don't, he is Jim, or Jim, the Game-Changer.

Back in March of 2002, Ryan and I were about to be married, and at that time, we had no idea where we would be living after that happened.  We had applied for jobs in Longmont, Colorado, and I'll be really honest--the thought of moving to Colorado terrified me (I laugh about that now).  I already felt like Decorah, Iowa, where I'd spent the last four years going to college, was too far away from my family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Why in the world would I move even further away?  Well, I would move further away because a) we needed jobs, b) my husband-to-be really wanted to live in Colorado, and c) I was totally, completely, 100% ready to follow him wherever he wanted to go because, hey, I kind of loved him. :)

The phone rang at about 7:00 on a Sunday evening early in March of 2002.  Ryan and I had just spent the afternoon shopping for wedding bands.  Since we were poor college students with no jobs in sight, we absolutely bought the most inexpensive wedding bands we could find.  I won't tell you how inexpensive they were...but I will tell you that I have spent more on an oversized box of diapers than we spent on my wedding band.  Anyway, the phone rang, and it was Jim.  At the time, he was still Jim, the education professor we highly respected, but after that particular phone conversation, he would become Jim, the Game-Changer.  This story could be extremely long, so I'm going to do my best to shorten it up for you.  I feel like I need to include it, though, because we truly do owe these opportunities and experiences to this man who believed enough in our character and teaching abilities to stick his neck out for us not once, but twice.

Jim had just run into a friend of his, who also happened to be the Superintendent of Singapore American School.  He was in the States for the job fairs, and was trying to fill an elementary general music and orchestra position.  He asked Jim if he knew of anyone who might be a good fit.  Jim told him that he knew of a couple who hadn't yet graduated, but may be interested in a move overseas.  He was calling me now to verify that that might be true.  He assured us that this would be an unbelievable opportunity, one that we really wouldn't want to pass up.  Ryan and I spent the next hour learning all we could about Singapore, and decided that if the man from the Singapore American School wanted to give us a chance, we were ready to take it.  Four days and as many interviews later, we were set to move to Southeast Asia!

Fast-forward ten years.  This time, I was on Facebook when Jim the Game-Changer messaged me.  We were chatting back and forth, and he told me that he had accepted a position as the Middle School Principal at a school in Tokyo.  I should mention that Jim the Game-Changer and his family have years and years of overseas experience, having lived and taught in Norway, Japan, Libya, Saudi Arabia...if he's reading, hopefully he'll correct me if there's anywhere I've missed!  Jim then mentioned that he was going to the job fair in Boston.  He asked if we were at all interested in heading back overseas.  Ryan and I had known since we moved back from Singapore that eventually, we wanted to go overseas again, especially so that we could give Meredith and Joel an international experience.  When he said that there were positions in Norway, we said that we were absolutely interested.  Here's why.

Norway is the place where I was originally bitten by the overseas bug.  Eleven years ago, the summer before I student taught, I traveled to Norway with Jim and a group of education majors from Luther.  We spent three weeks observing, assisting, and teaching in classrooms at the International School of Stavanger (ISS).  It was the most incredible experience, and it opened my eyes to this world of international schools and international education that I truly never knew existed.  I can still remember having a conversation with Jim about looking for jobs overseas, and about how amazing it would be to someday teach at ISS, thinking in my mind as we were talking that I could never be fortunate enough to actually have it happen.  Besides, at the time, I had no idea what Ryan thought about teaching overseas, and because it wouldn't just be an elementary position, but a music position that we would need as well, I figured it was nothing more than a dream.  Now, eleven years later, that dream has been realized, and I just know that we are meant to be in Stavanger for this next chapter of our lives.

So, Jim was the Game-Changer twice.  He changed the game from completed applications to a school in Colorado to full-time teaching positions at Singapore American School, and four years of visiting countries like Thailand, New Zealand, and China, to name a few.  This time, the game was six years in the making, but it has been changed again to give us the chance to experience Europe with our children. Those who know us know that we believe that God is the ultimate "Game-Changer", but as I said before, I also believe He's got lots and lots of helpers here on Earth, and Jim has certainly been one of those for us.  We are so grateful to him for the role he has played in all of this.  After we were offered positions at ISS, I joked with him that I owed him my third-born child for all of the help he'd given us.  Then I assured him that a third-born wasn't in the plan, so it would have to be something else.  I figure the least I can do is give him credit in this little blog.  He was our professor, our mentor, and our cheerleader, and he has always been our friend.  Mange tussen takk, Jim.  We thank God for putting you into our lives!!