Divine Miracles: Moving Forward

This last week was a long week, and frankly... I'm glad it's Saturday! I had a great morning with my sweet angels - playing, laughing, eating lunch together, and even folding clothes together. Yes, the latter was mostly me, but they each had their turn to come with with me and "fold" clothes. Maggie found a few things, and even put them in the right stack. Chap liked the kitchen towels... he took them from the pile, and spread them out on the floor and strategically folded a few. Whit - well, he knocked over several stacks getting to me, stepped on some things, fell over, and by the time he got to me - he was done.

A few times this week, I felt like that... "I'm done!"

Earlier in the week, a family from our church lost their two precious newborn baby boys... twins. They were born at 26 weeks gestation. One died at birth, and the other lived for 2 days. This hit me hard. It is rather clear that we are not supposed to always understand God's ways. And I had a hard time wrapping my mind around this tragedy. Why, when placed in a similar situation, does my outcome end happily? and this sweet couples' ends in tragedy? I am ever-so grateful and blessed that our boys survived their glimpse at being delivered at 24 weeks gestation, survived preemie-hood, and are thriving today - but why they did, and these other two sweet baby boys didn't - it is beyond my comprehension.

I am struggling with my response to that, so I will not try to answer it. I don't have an answer. We are grieving with this family that held a family grave-side service for their precious baby boys this morning. Wow! I cannot even begin to describe the kind of faith that this family has, to walk the road they are walking. Corbett and I ache for them. The grace that God poured over our Whit to provide the miracle that He did is immeasurable. I'm sure glad He did. And, yes, it often leaves me with the feeling of guilt when I measure myself up next to a family that has just been battered with tragedy. And then, I think - God has the answers. He will see this family through just as he has seen US through each of our own hard times. It was hard for us to even get all of our children here. God chose to bring Maggie, Chap, and Whit into this world - and placed them in our hands - along with His hands - to shape and to mold into His creatures. What a job! I do not carry it lightly!

I'm NOT done!

My week started off rough, and it ended much differently than I would've ever anticipated. I have had two big decisions weighing pretty heavily on my heart, shoulders, and mind.

Whit will be three this Tuesday. In Early Childhood Intervention, there is the law that states - three is three - meaning that no matter the ability, disability, or developmental level - three is three. Whit will be three. While in some areas, he exhibits himself as being three, there are still some where he is showing difficulty. My dilemma was whether or not to have him evaluated by the school district for areas of weakness (as suggested by The Meyer Center). Yes, he could use the help... No, PPCD is not the best model place for him, Yes, it would be free (kind of - we do pay taxes, right?). So, I have been praying heavily about this decision. While all three of these years, I have been pushing and pushing for intervention for Whit - and I have personally been pushing him to be the best he can be, we came to the conclusion that we are going to continue with OT and PT with Riverkids Home Health and opted not to have his speech and/or development evaluated with the school district. There are several reasons for this decision that I will not bore you with. Three is three - and we are still pushing him!

I am NOT done!

We are often asked... "How is Maggie liking Kindergarten?" For the most part, we give the "blanket" answer and say - "Oh, she's fine." And - she is. And - she's not. When I dropped Maggie off at school on Thursday, her shoulders were down - her eyes down - and her face sad. There are reasons for concern with Maggie in public Kindergarten, and for those - I went exploring on Friday. I went and toured the Kindergarten of the private school where the boys attend Mother's Day Out. Corbett and I have made the decision to move Maggie to private school. This was a tough decision, but one we feel is right. This school greatly disappointed me at the beginning of the school year with how they handled another child in the Mother's Day Out program. It will take me a while to get my mind off of that, and I am still torn because of it. However, public school is beating Maggie down - and she needs this move.

The sparkle in her eyes, and her spirit returned last night when Corbett and I talked with her about this move. She has been talking about it non-stop since then. When we were looking through her school work with her last night - she had 4 pictures in the stack. All four of them were pictures of herself, Chap, and Whit. Some she had written their names, some she had hearts around each of them, and some she had initials (and one with the number 10 written backward).... but all of them showed more confirmation that she will do better on the same campus as her brothers, in a smaller classroom, and a Godly direction.