Hmmm...I started this blog posting in 12/09.


I haven't written in awhile. I guess because I rarely have anything uplifting to say. Who wants to read a blog about someone's personal struggles and heartaches? Apparently, I do as I have been particularly drawn to reading memoirs as opposed to novels this year.

I digress. I think it is awfully pathetic that I started to blog last year about "Things that Lift Me Up" and within 12 months I came up with 29 things. I couldn't even get it to a nice round number. So much for my effort to be positive and thankful.

The truth is...I really do have a lot to be thankful for - I just don't have it all documented. As we say in the biz..."If you didn't document it, it didn't happen".

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Three months later:

I am finally in a place where I can document it, but where do I start? So much has happened in the past six months. When I wrote the prior entry I was slipping to the end of my rope. At least it seemed like it at the time. I was a complete mess. When I look back, I can see God's handprint all over my life.

I wrote earlier about Micah's rough entry into the world of kindergarten. From August to December, he had been suspended four times. Richard and I went to work every day just waiting for the phone call: "Come get him".  The poor kid. Nightmares were a common occurence.  He was frustrated, angry, depressed...and he had no idea how to express it, other than through aggression.

Richard and I were heartbroken and at an utter loss as to what we needed to do to help him. The school basically told us we needed to put him on medication or they would look at putting him at the alternative school. We already had him in play therapy and really did not want to put him on medication...but, the aggression was still out of control and we were willing to try anything.

Meanwhile, he gets his report card. At the bottom it shows the number of days absent and the number of times tardy. The principal circles the days absent and writes "IMPROVE!!!".  She then tells Micah that if he misses too many days of school his mommy and daddy will have to go to court and talk to the judge about it. Seriously???? You are going to report ME to truancy team/juvenile court because YOU have suspended my FIVE year old on FOUR occasions in FIVE months?

Knowing this part of the story, you have a better understanding of the state of mind I was in when I wrote the earlier entry!

We get back from a wonderful Christmas break and Micah goes back to school. At this point, Micah was on medication and the aggression had lessened considerably. He has always wanted Richard to walk him to his class and on this particular day he had a hard time letting go. Could it have something to do with the fact that he had just spent every single day the prior two and a half weeks with his parents!??! Although the day started out rough, he made it through without a suspension. WHEW!

The following day, Richard was walking him to class and the principal stops them in the hall. She takes Micah by the hand and says, "I will walk you to class. Your daddy needs to get to work". At lunch, I get a phone call from the principal - "We need to brainstorm ways to lessen Micah's separation anxiety".  See, Richard walking him to class has always been a bone of contention with the school. They were constantly telling us we needed to just drop him off at the curb and go. Which is fine for most kids...but not for my little anxious boy. Besides, I highly doubt his daddy is going to be holding his hand, walking him to class in the 8th grade! As I listened to the principal talk, I could feel my blood rise into my throat, start to boil and begin to seep out through my tear ducts. I was livid! (I cry when I am angry. Yep. The more I try to stop crying - the more I cry...which makes me mad...which makes me cry more.)

We were at a crossroads and it was time. Time to take a different route. Richard and I talked that afternoon and I called Unity Christian School to make an appointment to tour the school. God took that first step of faith and ran with it. We toured the school and met with the principal on a Monday. As we talked with the principal and explained Micah's situation I thought, "Finally, someone understands"and I could feel a weight lift off of me.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."  Matthew 11:28

Micah spent that Wednesday at the school to see how he would do in that setting. The principal called me that afternoon. Of course you know the fear that rose up as I answered the phone and saw it was the school. She said to me, "I am having a really hard time believing this is the same child you told me about."  I said, "Well now, he does have a honeymoon period."  :) She told me they would love to have him at the school! We celebrated! And would you believe that for the first time since starting kindergarten, he had no nightmares that night!  He started school there on Friday.

When we turned in the application to the school to enroll both of the boys at Unity (Noah is there now too) I had not even looked at the budget to see if we could afford it. I just knew that God had ordered our steps and He would be faithful to provide....and did He ever! We were supplied with all of their uniforms for this year at no cost or at a very minimal cost. And the best payoff is that my children love school!

I have had several people ask me how Micah is doing in school since the switch.  When I tell them how great it has been, some have replied with something along the lines of "Of course, they have to put up with him, you are paying them to."  I was worried I would feel that way too. Like the teachers and staff were just paying me lip service, but these folks are not just going through the motions. They love teaching, they love the Lord and they love my children! Micah has had two moments where he got in trouble, but no major meltdowns like before. One of the days, Richard and I received an email from his teacher. It said - here is what he did, I put him in timeout, we talked about the incident, I told him I love him, we prayed together and I sent him back to his activity. What a novel concept: discipline paired with grace!

Things have not been a bed of roses these last three months, but they are much more peaceful. There has been so much confirmation for us that we made the right decision. Micah is reading, he is learning to play the guitar (another story for another time), and he is loving school (most days!) I hope we were able to salvage the horrible first impression he got of school - he has a long educational road ahead.

As for Noah, well...he is the funniest thing since The Flinstones. He has to constantly be reminded to turn on his "listening ears", he is mouthy and he tells the most insane stories, but he has a heart for God and a heart for others.

For a synopsis on the other news in our lives that did not make the front page but should have:

- Richard is finishing up his Bachelors and will graduate from Shorter College in May 2010! WOOT WOOT!

- We joined West Rome Baptist Church and I was baptized (dunked - Micah was worried the pastor wouldn't pull me back up once he dunked me!) - we love our church. We are starting to get involved in a small group and we are taking the SHAPE class (more on all that later).

- Richard has had some ups and downs in his job but he has persevered.  My job - well, it is a constant rollercoaster but we finalized 62 adoptions in 2009!

So, there you have it...the past six months. Wow, what a journey! #30 - #100 (or more) THINGS THAT I LIFT ME UP - painful experiences that shape who we are.