Nine Years

So today was a big day - I have been with my current employer for nine years. I think about the last nine years, life has changed a lot. I ended an engagement in moving here to take this job. There is still a slight "what if..." that lingers in my mind at times, but I don't ponder it for long periods of time. I have changed churches several times and changed jobs within this company even more times.

I have things I am proud of and things I'm not proud of but I have learned from.

In three months I will graduate with my MBA. Then what? I am required to stay with my employer unless I plan to fork out a rather large check. Will I get a promotion out of this graduation? No promises no guarantees as I was rather rudely told by a HR person who has the personality of a gnat. Nine months from now, student loans kick in and do I just sit around and wait for the promotion to come? There are many questions that linger in this. And yet at the foundation of it is that my current employer has become a very distinct part of my identity. Some would say it is part of my blood and they would be correct. While a milestone is reached, paths will have to be examined....decisions decisions.