Fighting Fire

Tonight is Mr. Reliable's last night at a job he hates. It's exciting and terrifying at the same time. He's leaving his steady job, (at which he would easily be promoted within 2 years) to fight fire. He has applied for the fire academy that 23 of the fire departments in our area hire from; but we won't find out if he gets accepted until the last week of July (the academy starts the first week of August). We saved and saved and have paid our mortgage and car payment ahead until February; we've done all we can to get our ducks in a row. So now we wait.

He's not a man who can just "do a job" for a paycheck. He needs to do something he finds meaningful. The job he is leaving could lead to a $100,000 a year salary within 10 years, the one he's trying to get will probably never reach anywhere near those numbers. But it will allow him the freedom to love people, to treat people with compassion and respect, and to be with people in their hour of greatest need, and no six-figure salary can compare to that. I'm so proud of him and there is no one I'd rather be out on a limb with.