a long time coming

we moved back from jordan on december 21st. here's the long and the short of it:
jessey was asked to quit her job on november 1st. she was told that she wasn't grateful enough for receiving her job back after being swiftly fired and re-hired back in july. she was also told that she was not doing her best work. as you may know, she went to part-time because she was also required to finish her degree online. she was not able to juggle full-time school and full-time work at a school that wouldn't allow her to do her schoolwork after the kindergarten kids went home. the principal gave her the ultimatum: either she go back to full-time or quit that day. she quit. we found out later that they had had other teachers request to go part-time, which was not a possibility, so they had to make this request of jessey. it was pretty disheartening for the principal to make up negative character reasons instead of telling her the truth.
after a couple of weeks of jessey doing her full-time school alone, at home, in jordan, we decided something needed to change. it didn't seem worth it for her to be finishing this degree while living in the middle east. on top of it all, the school in general was and has been a very negative work environment for quite some time. given all of the negativity towards the teachers and our new situation with jessey at home, i turned in my resignation. the very same day, i got my old job back in peoria at the children's home for when i returned. God was orchestrating the next chapter in our lives.
we surprised friends and family with our return to central illinois on december 21st, the first day of winter. within a week, we signed a lease on a new apartment, bought a "new" car, bought a new bed, and i started my "new" job. all of these things were important to our transition home, and God put them together in the first 7 days. wow.
the positives:
1. new good friends in jordan.
2. arabic
3. a cross-cultural experience
4. life direction (jessey is finishing her elementary ed. degree and (soon) i plan to start a second degree program to become a history teacher).
so, that chapter is over, and a new one begins.