So here you are. You look at your calendar and you see a big (perceivably stinky) meeting coming up in a week … in a couple days … then tomorrow … and you’re starting to do a little inside-panicking. Quite frankly, you are just dreading this meeting, but you know it needs to be done.
Well – it was that time for us. Time for us to get Jeffrey signed up for a new school, in a new school district, and in a new state (Finally…). Both Gary and I were dreading it because previously every single year it seemed as though we had to jump over many hurdles before Jeffrey finally got everything he needed to get going for that particular year (Miss Sam to the Rescue!). There were always meetings with teachers, meetings with staff, sometimes meetings with the principal, and then, of course, the yearly IEP (Individualized Education Program) meetings where everyone sat in and decided just what they felt Jeffrey would need for the year.
We had gotten all Jeffrey’s school records together and headed into the open house to register Jeffrey for his new school. We were cautious, wondering just what was going to happen. This was a very small school district compared to where Jeffrey had come from – and quite frankly I couldn’t even recall seeing anyone in wheelchairs around the area since we had arrived.
What would they think of Jeffrey? Would they understand just how special he was? Would the school staff know what to do with a child such as he? These questions went swirling and swirling around in my mommy-head.
But … WOW!!! We left after that day totally mind-boggled at just how much less stressful it had been so far. The staff that we met were wonderful, and for the most part very accepting of having Jeffrey at the school.
They scheduled Jeffrey’s IEP right at the beginning of the school year, and again Gary and I couldn’t help wondering if this was when things would start to go wrong. And again as we left, Gary and I looked at each other in amazement as to just now easy the whole process had been.
All the teachers (except one), plus all the in-house therapists, and even the principal, gave me their email addresses and told me to contact them anytime with questions or concerns. They also stated that they’d let me know in advance when they were planning certain events at the school because they wanted to make sure that they would have the help in place for Jeffrey so he could attend everything, if he wanted to.
They also stated they would immediately get to work in finding Jeffrey a full-time aide which was something that it seemed like we had to fight for every year previously. Yippee!
Oh, and did I mention that there was a new principal that year, and that she had come from working in the special ed department in Vancouver, Washington? Ha!
Hebrews 11:1 (AMP) says:
Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].
Way back when Gary first felt like God asked him where he wanted to move to (God, Do You Really Care?) and Gary replied, “Bend, Oregon,” it seemed at times like it simply wasn’t going to happen. And now here we were, living just outside of Bend, and ready to start a new season!
But, you ask, did we never start to doubt? Well, yes we did. But that’s why it’s so incredible that God knows us from the inside out, and He’s so lovingly patient with us when we start to question things.
So next time you’re feeling ready to come out – guns blazing – remember just Who is in front of you leading the way!
The God Of All Comfort 