Thoughts and Whatnot: Look out, unexpected turns ahead
By CHRISTY WULF
Staff writer
Sometimes life takes an unexpected turn, and you find yourself suddenly somewhere you never thought you'd be.
My family and I have spent a summer following these unexpected and sometimes scary turns.
Before school was out, my husband, Lincoln, and I made plans for the summer. I would work from home, and he would enroll in summer courses at Wichita State University to continue work on his masters in history.
Life however had other plans. Wichita State wasn't apparently as concerned about finishing Lincoln's paperwork in a timely fashion as we were. We finally got confirmation that he was eligible and accepted into the masters of history program at WSU the third week in July, a little late for summer classes. Although it's nice that he can now continue in that program, it doesn't change the fact that the letter came too late.
While waiting on WSU to accept Lincoln, he was offered an opportunity to work with a friend in Wichita refurbishing run down houses to re-sell or rent. The pay was good, and we thought while we waited on WSU, it would be a chance for him to make some extra money. After a month of working, his friend offered him the opportunity to be a partner in the venture, and after a lot of discussion and thought, we decided that Lincoln and his friend should form a corporation.
So far the partners have refurbished one house to sell and own five apartments, three of which are rented and bringing in a profit.
During the work of the summer, another opportunity presented itself. A job at a Wichita university where not only could Lincoln be close to work on the houses and a masters program, but he could actually work on the masters he wanted as part of his benefits.
This was a major decision. If he took the job, he would be leaving behind 11 years of soccer coaching and an incoming team he recruited.
After much prayer and heart searching, we decided to take the chance. It gave Lincoln the opportunity to move ahead in his education and would also allow for him to have more time with his family.
Even though he would be making an hour commute to and from work, he wouldn't be recruiting or traveling to games. There wouldn't be two or even three a day practices, no more 9 p.m. study hall and 11 p.m. indoor intramural games.
Yes, he would miss the game, and the players most of all, but with an eye to the future, we made our decision.
My husband and I never expected when we came to Hillsboro two years ago that he would be moving on to a Wichita job or that he would be leaving coaching. But as I said, life often has things in store for us that we would never have planned for ourselves.
We'll both miss the soccer team players. We'll miss the contact with Tabor, but I hope we've made some friends there in the years here, and that they can support us in this life choice.
