Okay, so remember that video, um….a little less than a year ago?
Well now I am eating my words….and here’s the miraculous story of why.
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Something was different this year when I was preparing Taylor for school.
I just felt, I don’t know, a little more hesitant.
I found I was reluctant to buy school clothes and supplies…and actually decided I would wait till a few weeks after school started before doing so.
And then when I brought Taylor to school on that first day, I came home and felt….sad.
Okay, actually I came home and fell back to sleep while Chloe watched a movie, but when I woke up, then I started feeling sad.
It didn’t help much later in the day when Taylor came home and snuggled up to me to talk.
“Mom?” He asked. “You know how you were super excited for school to start? Well…..I was thinking that maybe that was because you were excited to be away from me.”
Instantly my heart broke.
I held him tighter and tried to explain that my excitement was only because I was trying to help him feel feel less nervous.
He looked up at me with a big smile of relief and hugged me closer.
And suddenly, I felt this weird feeling I had never experienced before.
The need to keep him home.
The faint faint FAINT whisper that maybe I should consider more seriously the option of homeschooling.
I decided to instead begin praying for more than a whisper.
It was more of a SHOUT needed in order to get this mama to homeschool.
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I recall a certain conversation with Jimmy right after Taylor was born, when he sweetly suggested I consider praying about homeschooling one day.
To which I snapped back, “If you’d like to stay happily married to me, I suggest you consider praying about never asking me that again.”
Such a Proverbs 31 wife right there…
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Jimmy and I had actually, though, just started talking about it over this last summer but I had said that IF it were to happen it would likely be at least a year from now, and God would need to open wide the doors to make it abundantly clear.
And this is when things started to change…
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Last Thursday night, Jimmy and I decided that we would start praying together every night before bed.
And so I requested that we begin praying over the decision to homeschool Taylor.
I explained that I didn’t feel I could homeschool him full time, and that a charter school would be the perfect situation.
My only issue was that my #1 choice in charter schools had a program that had you start by homeschooling full time and then you could be placed on a waiting list for the program that included 2 full class days.
But from what I’d heard, that could be anywhere from months to years.
And, so I explained to Jimmy that since all of that seemed so overwhelming and impossible to me, it just seemed easier to keep him in school.
Only I didn’t want easier….I wanted what was right for Taylor and for our family.
And so we prayed…together.
That God would make it abundantly clear to us.
That doors would either open wide or close tight so that we would see either way, it was obvious God was involved.
And then we went to sleep…and God went to work.
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Early the next afternoon I decided to email the charter school I loved and simply ask questions about how homeschooling worked and how long the wait list looked to be.
Immediately I got a response…
“Actually, we have an opening for only that grade and if you could come by in the next few hours we can get him in the class day program right away.”
What?!?
I instantly started calling my friends whose kids attend the school and asked if that was even possible, and not one of them had ever heard of that happening….and each of them suggested I not even consider letting go of the opportunity.
I then called Jimmy who excitedly said he would leave work early to meet me there and we could talk with them together.
An hour later we were signing the papers and enrolling Taylor into the charter/homeschooling program beginning the very next day.
And as we signed the last paper, another teacher approached us and said…
“Perfect timing! We are about to have our mandatory parent orientation for new students in 5 minutes if you guys are able to stay.”
As God would have it, actually, we could.
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Everyone in that orientation was starting on the homeschool program.
Every one of them on a wait list to get into the class days.
At the end of orientation, the teacher asked how long we had waited to get in.
And when my husband explained that we had just emailed the school only a few hours earlier and had actually never even considered homeschooling before…her mouth dropped.
She’d been there 11 years and said she’d never heard of that happening, and that we must have been meant to be here.
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So many more miracles proceeded to happen the following few days that proved God had opened wide the doors, and ever so lovingly shoved us through them.
~ When we told Taylor, he took it amazingly well. And he even seemed happier and more loving with all of us the rest of the weekend.
~ The co-op I had wanted to be a part of was usually full by the time I contacted them, but had just decided to split up between two locations, and why yes I could enroll in classes.
~ I called Chloe’s preschool to see if I could change her days so that they could coordinate with Taylor’s new school days.
Generally there is a wait list there as well, but a day later I received a response that yes, I could switch the days….and keep the teacher we had requested.
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And through it all….I have been somewhat calm.
Overwhelmed, yes, but with an unusual inner calm….and do I even admit???
Excitement!!!
{until this morning, when we had our “official” first day and I took my eyes off God for a second, and then why…HELLO ANXIETY!}
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And since this post is already quite long I’ll save the deeper explanation of why this suddenly became my heart for another post.
What I’ll end with is all I know is that it’s right for us for right now.
~ I know I’m scared and excited and absolutely dependant on the Lord each and every day even more than I was before.
~ I know that this is absolutely the furthest thing from something I ever thought I’d do or even consider…and so I shall never say never, ever again.
~ And I know that God is fully in control of this one, and while it may not always be an easy road, it’s one He created miracles for me to be on.
And so I’ll obediently and excitedly walk on….
A brunette homeschoolin’ mama.
{Next up….I’ll be writing cooking from scratch cookbooks or something.}
Because you just never know.
p.s.
if you’re the praying kind, please…pray for me.
i don’t want to be in padded room with lots of prescription medication, so….just pray.
