Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Kindergarten choice "revealed"



So, I went through the Kindergarten selection craziness—visiting nine schools and additional preschools. I was a bit preoccupied by the whole thing—our designated public school frightened me, yet I am a product of public schools and felt as a taxpayer they should work. I had narrowed it down to three options and was planning to apply to two public schools in hopes that one could take Eli. Plan C was Norfolk Christian—attached to our church, triply accredited, but with a cost. (I might add that my husband had told me from the beginning not to worry about the money aspect, but the coupon queen and garage sale bargainista in me couldn’t handle the thought of paying out).

As I was explaining my preoccupation with this process, a Bible Study leader asked me, “Have you prayed about it?” I answered quickly and a bit defensively, “well, yes.” Of course, I’d prayed general prayers over the situation, but in my quick answer, something didn’t feel right. I recognized I had not asked God what He wanted me to do. It took me a few days to figure out why I was holding back. Sunday morning as I was getting ready for church, it became clear. I was afraid God would want us to pay for schooling for Eli, and I didn’t want to ask the question because I didn’t want to hear the answer. This exposed my root unbelief of God as provider. Right away it clicked with me, God is my provider (Jehovah Jireh), and He can afford his own plans, so I might as well be open to know them and trust Him.

That Sunday morning the pastor preached about Abraham’s faith—Abraham is noted for readily obeying God even when it didn’t make sense. During the sermon, the pastor also mentioned the faith involved with building our church and Norfolk Christian School which he said is now a top Christian school. This was news to me and I wondered if God was using the pastor to tell me something.

Then Monday night, I was in a small group and we were discussing the kindergarten dilemma and our leader mentioned that Norfolk Christian was excellent and really the ideal choice for school if it is a financial option.

That night, I was involved in a conversation in a dream where I was told Norfolk Christian. I argued a little bit and felt kind of put in my place and, while not frightened, I got the impression that I didn’t want to disobey.

Tuesday morning I was wondering whether I was just crazy or if God was speaking to me through the dream. He has been known to do that, but I couldn’t remember it happening to me before. Before lunch, I met up with a friend who is also going through the kindergarten selection process; we got together to exchange notes on our findings. I told her about how things were not going the way I’d planned; it was looking like God was pointing me to Norfolk Christian and had even had a very direct dream about it that I didn’t know quite how to take. One of the things she said was perhaps I should call or visit the school to get all of my questions resolved . . .

About two hours later, THE PRINCIPAL OF THE SCHOOL CALLED ME!! I had visited their open house a few weeks back so she was calling (on this particular day) to follow up. It was sure looking like God was trying to get a message through to me, but I was still a bit reluctant to accept it.

Wednesday morning, I ran a quick errand before Bible Study at 9:30. As I was returning, I found myself right behind a Norfolk Christian school bus (and I’d never even noticed their buses before). Anyway, I felt like a character in that routine, “here’s your sign”—there it was, smack dab in front of my face. Okay, I finally succumbed, and was laughing and crying at the same time how this had been orchestrated for my benefit.

I had lunch with my husband, Jason, and was explaining to Him all of these things and how I was feeling led that way. I wasn’t sure if he was going to say I was crazy for seeing God’s hand in all of these things. He suggested I just step out in faith and destroy the other applications and get working on the one for Norfolk Christian. He asked why I was continuing to try to doubt the message and what I was going to do next. I told him find a cave (or maybe the basement would do) or perhaps I could follow in Jonah’s footsteps and find a ship to take me away from Norfolk. He reminded me that that hadn’t work out so well . . . Anyway, I started on the application.

Over the next few weeks, I began asking God, “what about Ava?” (my younger daughter). I explored many, many preschool options, but none were working out for many reasons including geography, start times, and waiting lists. It didn’t make sense that God would have a great plan for Eli but not for Ava since He knows everything and could have anticipated this problem. I’ve heard that when God remembers, it isn’t that He has forgotten, it’s that he springs into action. Well, I found out a couple weeks ago that Norfolk Christian had just decided to expand their preschool program for Ava’s age group! It is exactly what we needed, and the geography and start times are perfect! He remembered!

Just got an e-mail today that they’ve both been accepted!

I found out where the Norfolk Christian buses are stashed and got a picture of the sign on the back of the bus.