i wrote the first part of this post about a week ago before Emma's first day at Calvary.
sending a kid to school...people do it all the time...but i haven't....ever. not really at least. but i'm doing it monday. and i've got some things to process - thus, a blog post with terrible capitalization.
she's got her supplies. and her schedule. and a copy of the fire exit routes. maybe she's ready. (confession: i took a picture of the fire exit routes because i couldn't keep the room numbers straight).
maybe she's ready. but am i?
we've homeschooled and we've sent kids to school on a ship in africa (that sounds way more dramatic than it actually was). but never have i ever sent a kid to school like the vast majority of most regular people do.
we've always said that we would take it (the decision of whether to homeschool or send to school) year by year and child by child....with one child that meant joining in with a co-op for 2 years, and for the oldest 2 that has mean dual enrolling at CSU their junior and senior years...but with all the other children for all the other years, we've done our schooling at home with an assortment of curriculum (95% of that has been provided straight by God at pretty much not cost to us! homeschooling doesn't have to be expensive!)(but that's another blog for another day).
at some point in the past year emma began talking more seriously about wanting to go to school - so we said we would pray about it. that answer feels like a cop out sometimes...but it's really what we do!! we (and by we i mean nick) also research - gathering facts and information and looking at our options. as we started taking slow prayerful steps forward, we felt the door to Calvary Christian School was opening just a bit wider and a bit wider....
and then i was sitting on the porch with a new friend and she was sharing some of her story and (without knowing the decisions we were contemplating) shared that, when her girls were younger (they are young adults now) she and her husband had decided to enroll them into a private christian school...and what she said (for a variety of reasons) resounded deep in my soul and i knew in that moment what the Lord was calling us to.
and once you know what He's calling you to, it's much easier to do what He's calling you to (and that, my friends, is why i blog...i needed God to help me get to that sentence right there).
truth be told, homeschooling feels easier and safer. but it's not best for emma - at least not for the time being (we'll see what God says about next year and the next year).
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i didn't quite finish this blog in time to post it before she started school....but that just means you get to hear more of the story.
calvary has a special tradition of gathering on the first morning of school to pray for the students and teachers (photo credit goes to caroline). how very special for the entire school - from the littlest to the oldest and everyone in between - to gather and consecrate the year to the Lord. i can't think of any better way to start the school year.
AND she's had a great week! and i had a great week! (not because she was gone...but because she was right where she was supposed to be!) she's had friends to sit with at lunch. seems to be understanding the things being taught in her classes. is happy to wake herself up every morning. doesn't mind my cheesy little notes in her lunchbox.
go knights. swords up. (that's not really what they say. caroline has jokingly said it for soccer)(but then the first morning of school when we gathered to pray, they had us hold up a finger and say "swords up"...so maybe they do say that....i'm really not sure).
and next week we get to send a kid to a gap year program. not just sending him to school...releasing him to live away from home...might need another blog post.
