Day 13- Are You Sure About That?!
Making faith decisions that are unpopular are hard. Yesterday, we learned that our God cannot be confined to cultural or even expert opinions.
But what about our own mental blocks on our Faith Journey? What about the times we were so certain that our way was right, we convinced ourselves that it must be God’s plan?
I shared in Day 9 how we became connected to “The Parent Infant Hearing Impaired Program.” I had built such a strong relationship with the Deaf Education teacher, Kathy, that came to our home 3 times a week to teach Ryan and I Sign Language.
This program is for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing children ages birth through three. Well, Ryan was now three years old. That meant we had to begin to navigate the IEP (Individual Education Plan) process. An IEP was for all students that needed specialized learning exceptions within the school system. Kathy prepared me as best she could for our pending IEP meeting and gave me information to read about being your child’s advocate.
I had the option to keep Ryan at home and continue with Kathy or enroll him in a pre-K class especially for Deaf and hard-of-hearing children. I was warned by Kathy that the IEP team (who didn’t even know my Ryan) would be giving their expert opinions on why it would be best to enroll Ryan in pre-K early instead of continuing to teach him at home.
WELL…I was having none of that. Expert opinions???!!They were NOT experts about my child. Ryan was too young to go to school. He needed me. He was still using his walker. Yep! I was prepared for this IEP meeting and ready to stand my ground!
The day of the meeting, I took an 8 x 10 picture of Ryan and placed it in the center of the table. I said, “if we are going to be discussing, based on your expert opinions, what’s best for Ryan Caleb Smith; I wanted you to have a visual image of him.” They were taken a back somewhat but continued on with their agenda. I stated my position of continuing education at home until Ryan was older. I stood my ground and they finally relented. Victory! Must be God’s plan, right?!
The teacher of the pre-K and kindergarten Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing class made her way around the table to me as the others were finishing paperwork. Her name was Katie. She said she fully supported my decision and understood completely. She did make an offer for Ryan and I to visit her classroom for summer school. She explained that it would be a great opportunity for Ryan to socialize with other hearing impaired children who signed.
That was a reasonable offer, I thought. It might be good for Ryan to be around other kids that were able to sign with him. A couple of weeks later, I packed Ryan and I lunch and we headed off to summer school together.
I was blown away by Katie, her assistant (Sandy), and these amazing children. Katie was a human, signing “Barney.” She was animated with her signs and facial expressions. She kept the kids attention during story and calendar time. Ryan was mesmerized by her and so was I. We had a wonderful time.
I decided we would go back to summer school the next day…together. I was treating it kind of like a “mommy and me” date. However, Ryan had other plans. We opened the classroom door, Ryan rolled in with his walker, signed “I Love You, Bye-Bye,” and shut the door in my face.
Ms. Sandy quickly opened the door and saw my stunned expression and gave me a hug. “He’ll be fine…why don’t you come back in an hour. If we need you, we’ll call you,” she chuckled and shut the door. So, still a little stunned and hurt, quite frankly. I left Ryan at school.
When I returned to pick him up, Ryan did not want to leave. He signed, “school, tomorrow…yes.” Well…that was that! Much to my shock and against what I just knew was best…I swallowed my pride, contacted the IEP lead, and enrolled Ryan in school at age 3.
Ron and I had a good laugh about the school incident over dinner that night. We both realized that parenting Ryan was going to be a long string of situations where God was going to have to re-direct us.
Ryan thrived under the teaching of Ms. Katie and Ms. Sandy. I did too. They taught me so much. I am so grateful the Master Dot-Connector was still actively leading us to the right people to accomplish his plan in our lives.
- Read Ephesians 3:14-21
In the midst of trials, what does Paul pray that we will comprehend?
- Write out verse 20 and 21:
What is The Lord able to do in and through your life?
“…abundantly beyond what we ask or think according to His power that works within us.”
Be open to His change of direction in your life. Be willing to release what you thought was good in exchange for His best. I would have missed a huge blessing in mine and Ryan’s life if I had continued to be dogmatic with my idea of right.
I wonder how many blessings we miss because of pride…refusal to change or admit we were wrong? Change is inevitable. Let God be the Way-Changer in your life. Don’t get so stuck on your idea of good, that you miss God’s best.
Pray for boldness to set aside pride and humble yourself when needed. Be open to His change of direction. You won’t be disappointed.
Lifting you up before the throne today. Onward, sister!
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