On Wednesday morning we headed over to Hunter's Bend Elementary School to check it out. I've only home schooled Cooper and Gatlin so this was our first experience at a "real" school. Everyone was extremely nice and seemed genuinely excited to meet the kids. I was given all the necessary paperwork and was told that they could start as early as the next day. Wow.
I had been thinking long and hard about school. When Cooper first started Kindergarten, I was still traveling with "Sierra" and I wanted him to be able to go with me as much as possible, so we home schooled. We absolutely loved it and continued it from that day to now. It ended up being a huge blessing when the kids began acting and we began traveling to California so often for their auditions and work. I have always been so happy with our home school choice. On a Spiritual level, it has been very important to me as well. I want my kids to learn from a Christian worldview. So, when I was debating school for the new kids I will admit to some guilt over that aspect of it. But, in the end, I had to let go of that guilt and do what I thought was best for everyone. They needed that time with other kids and those of us who would remain at home needed a little breather.
I then began to debate whether to start them on Thursday or wait until Monday. I had had a great night's sleep (thanks to the Tylenol PM that Lana gave me) and so when I woke up Wednesday morning I was feeling a MILLION times better. The knots in my stomach were basically gone and as of that day, I felt like I was going to be ok. Thank you, God!! So, I was thinking that I'd just wait and start them in school on Monday. But then I started thinking that it might be nice for them to get a feel for it for two days before they went for an entire week - and my gut feeling was that that was the best decision. Turned out to be a real God-thing.
A sweet gal from church named, Rhonda Rose, brought us a wonderful dinner that night and once again, we all went to sleep fat and happy. (:
Thursday morning we got up early (for us) and started getting kids ready for school. I'm so thankful that Brian is here helping - we've got a nice little routine going. We were at the school by 8:20. Dianne, the school secretary, walked us to their classes and made sure we knew where they were supposed to be. They were very excited to meet their teachers and all three kids went straight into their rooms without any trouble at all. Yipee.
When I got home, Gatlin and I had a really important conversation. We talked about life before the kids and life as it would be from now on. There were deep issues discussed and we both cried a bit (ok, maybe a lot). It was a talk that needed to happen and it resolved very well. But it was heavy and we were both emotionally tired. Right when we wiped away the last tear, my phone rang. It was my mom.
Gatlin and I were sitting side by side, I was about to answer an email and she had just started her school work. I said hello to my mom and she immediately said that she had some not so great news to share with me. She then told me that she'd gotten the results of her biopsy back and that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Unfortunately, Gatlin was sitting so close to me that she heard her Nana say those words and she just started bawling. She was crying out, "No, she's the only grandma I see, I don't want her to be sick, I love her, please don't let her die". It.Was.Awful. I lost it. I HATE that my mom is having to walk through this. She is already a cancer survivor - she had Hodgkin's Disease when I was 16-years-old. I don't want her to go through all this again. My head was spinning as I realized that if we hadn't just adopted three kids that I could have jumped in the car and driven to Oklahoma to be with her right that minute. I wanted to be able to go spend time with her, and the realization that I wouldn't be able to was painful. We said we would talk later that day and we hung up. I put my head in my hands and sobbed.
It was pouring rain outside. God's tears? I know it hurts Him that His children hurt. I always say to my kids, "Did we trust God before this (particular event occurred)?" "Do we still trust Him now?" And yes, we do trust Him. We are praying for my mom's complete healing. I'm praying that when she goes in for her MRI tomorrow that the whole darn lump will just be gone. But, if that's not how God chooses to heal her, than we will continue to trust Him. Please pray for her as she walks this journey. She is an amazing Mom, Nana and friend.
It turned out to be a perfect day to have started the kids in school (the God-thing). I picked them up at 3:30 and they were all very happy. Everyone had had a great day and they all loved school. Yipee again!! That night our friends, the Trouts, AND our sweet friend, Dana Carter, both brought food over to us for dinner. We were feeling quite blessed and quite spoiled. And again, we went to bed fat and happy.
To be continued (I'll try to squeeze the rest of the week into the next/last post)...
No comments:
Post a Comment