Miracles Happen

Maybe now I know what all the headache with not getting command sponsorship has been for--in order for things to work out better than I could have imagined. Let me just preface this story by saying God really is merciful and when the scriptures say "And all things work together for good to them that love God," (Romans 8:28) it really is true. I wish I weren't always so quick to forget that and get so easily frustrated when things seem to be against me. Sometimes, when things are against me, it is because I am trying to go the wrong way. I think that the adage "When God shuts a door, he opens a window" is extremely applicable here.

A month or so ago, I went to look at getting the kids in Korean speaking schools. I really loved the concept of having the children immersed in the language and the culture. But every time I got close enough to enroll them, I felt really wrong about it. I decided that it must mean that we were going to get command sponsorship in January--something I had been praying for fervently. At church two weeks ago a sister in the congregation gave me the name of the principal of her daughter's private international school. I knew the school was exceptionally expensive and times that by seven, the prospects were nil for my children. I took the number reluctantly, but had no intention of calling, and I stuffed the paper in the bottom of my purse.

At this time Brian and I were trying to decide if we should stay in Daegu for one, two, or three years. There were several components of this decision that had to be evaluated. One, the kids schooling, two, my internship in MFT, and where we could possibly go after one year here. (When you go on a one year tour, the Army does not pay for the family to come and it is considered a hardship tour which gives the soldier choice of follow-on duty stations.) We first called to find out where Brian could go after this year tour. We were told that because I came over to Korea (even though we paid for it, not the Army, and the kids can not go to school and we do not have medical coverage) that it was no longer considered a hardship tour and Brian could not choose his next assignment, but instead would have to go to El Paso, TX. Immediately, we decided to stay two years. There is no way I am signing up to return to Hell Paso, TX!

Next, we called the Army school to find out when our children could start attending the school. Usually, there is a turn over of people moving out during Christmas time. When I called I found out that 20 children were moving out, but that they already had those openings assigned to children other than mine (even though we are the very top of the waiting list). We found out through some upper echelon sources that they have been letting children of government employees into the school, while continuing to deny Army children. I was furious. I felt a huge burden of hoplesness and had no idea what I should do. I can homeschool the children, but it has been weighing on all of us, especially the older children. I remembered the number of the principal of the private school stuffed in the bottom of my purse. I dug it out and made a phone call thinking it would be absolutely fruitless. When I talked to him, I told him that we could only afford $1000/month for all seven children combined (the yearly tuition for all my children should be about $140k), but that I would be happy to volunteer at the school in return. He asked me to call him back the next day when he could talk more to me about it. I called for two days and he never answered his phone. Finally, I called one last time on the third day with the intention of giving up my query, when he answered. He told me he was very interested in my proposal (I was shocked, I really thought it was a ridiculous offer on my part), but that he would need to take it to his board of directors. We waited for another four long days to hear an answer. Finally, I loaded all the children in the car and drove to the school. I walked up to the headmaster/principal's office and introduced all of us. He said, "How did you get here so fast?" I gave him a quizzical look and he responded, "I just sent you an email saying that we've accepted your offer and your children can come to our school." The kids were so excited because we all had been praying for this miracle.

It took two days to get all the paperwork done and make the preparations, but my children started school on Thursday and they have never been as happy in a school as they are at the international school. Oakley has struggled to fit in in American schools for years. It was getting worse and worse to the point that he quit trying to make friends after we left Utah. Tennessee was a miserable year for him and Chloe in ghetto middle school. But, when they came home Thursday, they were shining. They all had made friends immediately and felt like they fit in perfectly. They are a little behind in math and science and will have to work really hard to catch up--the academics are top of the line, as is the entire facility. Oakley is in 8th, Chloe is in 7th, Gwynyth is in 6th (they allowed her to move up a grade), Sophia is in 2nd grade, Diamond and Florence moved back to 1st grade (they, unfortunately, do not have a special education program for Florence so that was our only option, and she is still behind the first graders--but Diamond is dong awesome in 1st and we thought it would be good for him to be the smartest and oldest in his grade instead of the youngest and slightly below average), and Giselle is in Kindergarten (who, btw, is reading quite well now!!).

So, I am now dealing with the fact that I have ALL my children in school all day. Things have not worked out so far with my internship, but we'll see how things work out with that. Right now I am just dealing with some serious anxiety attacks coming down from the intense stress that I have survived in the last six months. Now I have to figure out what to do with myself and my tons of free time :).