I Have Survived!

We did it!  

We survived!  

The 2013-2014 school year is officially in the books and all of my kids passed!  

This year was the start of something new.  A totally new school.  The last thing I wanted to do when I knew Derick would be leaving in January.  

But we made it!  

It was a relatively calm school year, actually.  All three of the kids stopped going to the local Christian school and started in our public school district.  Christian technically went from being a middle school student, back to being an elementary school student, because of the way the grades are arranged.  Allyn switched teachers (away from his cousin and classmate) halfway through the first semester when a new kindergarten teacher was hired.  And Aida... well, she excelled, except when she would get teary from missing her daddy.  

Last summer, I came to the realization that we could not afford private school anymore.  If I'm honest with myself, we never could.  But The Lord kept providing little by little so that we could continue in that school. But in preparing for this school year, we enrolled a third child.  When the tuition contract arrived in the mail, my breath caught in my chest.  Either The Lord would have to work a miracle or he had a different plan in mind. 

We prayed and I cried.  We explored all of our options to be able to stay at the Christian school.  But no part time options and no amount of financial aide available, saved us enough money to afford one more year at this wonderful school.  And we knew that if we pulled one child out, we'd pull all of them out.  To be fair to all of them, and for me to keep my sanity, they would all go to the same school. 

Last August, Derick spent 2 weeks in training in California.  They camped in the mountainous deserts, away from civilization to prepare for his current assignment.  Consequently, he was also away from phones and internet service.  So, I had the privilege of making the school decision alone.  (Practice, I suppose for our current life.)

So, three days before school started, I went to the office of their current school alone, and between tears and sobs, I begged for mercy to be released from the contract.  I explained that our financial situation does not afford us the luxury of a private school.  It would be unwise to continue on this path.  In the end, when the tuition payment would be drafted out of our bank account, it may result in no electricity or no phone service.  Because something else would essentially get neglected.  

They were very understanding and complied with my request.  And I left the school feeling empty, closing the door on a very long chapter of my life.

My family has a legacy at this school.  For 25 years my family has roamed the halls of this school, played sports, sang concerts, checked out library books, participated in science fairs.  And it all came to a screeching halt on August 14.  

When I finished crying to the office worker there, I went to the new school to enroll them.  As soon as I started talking, the tears started all over again.  And I sobbed to their new secretary.  She must have thought I was out of my mind.  But I made it through the enrollment process.

The next day, we went school shopping and Derick came home.  And two days after that the kids started at their new school.  We took pictures. And said goodbye and then we went through the McDonald's drive thru.  Because nothing drowns first-day-of-school sorrows like a large coffee and a Sausage Egg McMuffin.  

And I survived.

And so did they.  

And we kept going back day after day.  Even when we thought we wouldn't make it!

And each day brought us closer to this day.  Now I have 2 kids with a full year's worth of straight A's and one enrolled in the gifted school for next year.  

And they all matured so much in the last 10 months!

This year was good for me.  Not incredibly demanding, but it kept the kids busy.  And they had teachers that cared when Derick left.  And cared enough to make sure that didn't affect their work.

Jeremiah 29:11 - For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 

I think this verse is fitting.  I don't have to know the plan.  And even though, to me, it feels painful, it is for my benefit.  God knew all along that this past year my children would be in a public school, not private.  And he knew just how to take care of us through that life change.