Only God...

In only something God could do... Lorielle has been accepted into a Charter School -

Santa Rosa Academy.

Her first day will be tomorrow morning.

Bob and I have not been happy this year with the school she was attending. I couldn't exactly pin-point all of the issues... but, in my heart of hearts... I knew something wasn't "right". And, this feeling didn't come over a period of time... It began the first day of school and never went away. I dreaded each day that I would have to send her to school... and grew more disappointed each day when she came home from school and I saw no progress. Days turned into weeks... and weeks turned into 3 long months.

We learned of a Charter School... drove past it a few times... sat in their parking lot for a bit one Sunday afternoon... talked about it... prayed about it... shared it with a few friends... and then I attended their Open House. Wow! I was very impressed... and I embarrassingly had to hold back tears as the Principal gave my mom and I a tour of the school. I couldn't wait to learn more at their informational meeting that was required in order to enroll Lorielle. In the meantime, Bob and I stopped in their office a few times with lots of questions. We were told if there was a waiting list, Lorielle would be first on the list. We were very excited! During this time... an "illness" (H1N1) was spreading quickly throughout Lorielle's school. Bob and I made a drastic decision and pulled Lorielle out of class until we knew more. The school refused to admit there was an issue in spite of the fact there were 65 absences in one day... 7 alone in Lorielle's class. So as we waited... we learned two of Lorielle's friends from her school and Daisy Troop were now enrolled in the Charter School and getting ready to begin. Tuesday finally came and we attended the meeting... and the room was filled... and much to our surprise a few students from Lorielle's school - her class - were there. We waited in line to turn in our paperwork and were told there was one student enrolled in their homeschooling program that was requesting to be transferred into their on-site program. With only one spot left, they would call us the next day to let us know whether it would be Lorielle or their homeschooling student (who would receive priority placement). We were so disappointed! I went home and prayed my heart out. "God if this is meant to be, please allow Lorielle to be placed!" Little did we know what was ahead. We ran a few errands after the meeting and stopped back by with a few more questions. We were then told there were now 3 students on the waiting list and that they would be doing a raffle that afternoon. My heart fell to the floor. I could barely handle competing against one student... now we have 3 more? I waited anxiously by the telephone.

Nothing. No phone call. No e-mail. No message.

The next morning before Logan's appointment, we stopped back by the office. We learned that another student from Lorielle's class was drawn first, but Lorielle was first on the waiting list. Oh....... I cannot even begin to tell you how disappointed and hurt I was. "God, how could you do this? How can I send Lorielle back to that school?" We went to Logan's appointment and then stopped back by the school with more questions. We came home and I cried. I just couldn't believe what had happened. We recommended this school to all 3 of the students that were now going to attend... and yet Lorielle was not placed. How could that happen? I happened to check my e-mail as I was "pouting" and there in my inbox was an e-mail from someone I least expected. I won't go into details... but, only to say this person hasn't been the nicest to me or to my daughter. There hasn't been any contact in quite some time... so for her to send me an e-mail... well... I truly believe it was "only God". She mentioned a few points in the e-mail that made me think through our situation with Lorielle... and I realized that if she wasn't placed in first grade she would go to the bottom of the list for second grade because a list was already forming for second grade. She couldn't be on two different lists. I ran downstairs to tell Bob... and we both agreed we would need to place Lorielle in their homeschooling program so that she would receive priority over priorty in placement. I had very much been against homeschooling because I didn't believe it was the best option for Lorielle socially... however, I "gave in" to my husband and I agreed. Bob had to leave for work... so, I picked up my parents and we headed to the Charter School to enroll Lorielle. As I began to explain what we would like to do to the secretary... she looked at me with a huge smile and said,

"Would you rather enroll her on-site?"

Well, of course! She explained to me that she spoke to the Principal and they were going to make an exception and place one more student... LORIELLE!

Praise God!

I enrolled her right then and there... and then we headed to San Diego to buy uniforms!

ONLY GOD!

YES, ONLY GOD!