Kim’s been diving into Ephesians 3:20 lately, especially in light of our recent/pending adoption. God has been speaking to her about his faithfulness coupled with his ability to do more than we can imagine. She’s always said that faith is one of her strongest spiritual gifts, and it’s showing!
We have been praying about Josie’s school situation. She’s in 7th grade, as is our other middle schooler, Lilly. Having a sister in the same grade and class has been a blessing for Annabelle, and would be phenomenal for Josie. The only catch is that ESL isn’t offered at Lilly’s school. All the ESL students are gathered at the other middle school. We know that she’s going to need support, yet the upside to having our girls bond in school is so powerful. We believe that while Josie will need help acclimating to school and learning English, her need to establish some family ties is even bigger.
We prayed, and Kim wrote a letter to the school outlining a plan. We wanted to have Josie spend half the day at the school with ESL, then Kim would pick her up (bonding time bonus) and take her to Lilly’s school for the rest of the day. The only catch seemed to be which classes she’d be able to pick up in the afternoon. Her social English is pretty good, but her academic vocabulary is limited. Can you imagine trying to work through science or social studies (world cultures) without the words you need for the class?
We met with the ESL director and the principal of Lilly’s school this morning. The ESL director once again stated that Josie’s best support would be at the other school in an all-day situation. I thought, “OK, here it comes. Do we fight the system or give in?” Then she dropped the BIG BUT–But we hear your heart for your daughter, understand where you’re coming from and why you are prioritizing relationships, and we think we can work it out.
Our hearts leaped (leapt? leep-ed?) when she said that. Josie will get to spend her afternoons with Lilly in every class except one, which is ideal, because she’ll get to pick up a math class while Lilly is off learning quantum physics or whatever other 7th graders are learning.
We (as a society) are pretty quick to bang on leaders when things don’t go the way we think they ought to, or when we don’t get our way. But our leaders listened to us, took our family’s best interest into mind, and worked out a solution. That’s splendid!
And that, my friends, is a faith-builder for us, and for Josie!
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
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