Day Twenty Three - Jan 23, 2019

Six years ago we embarked on a journey of trust and faith… A journey I said I’d never take - home schooling. There was only a scrap of faith and a wobbly belief that God was nudging our hearts to take this path. That first year had a few measurable momentous moments, but many more stuck-in-the-trenches lows - with an abundance of tears and frustration. We were learning to live and breathe in the same space with a common goal - survival. 

At the end of that first year, we had our school summary evaluation with a certified educator. I asked how we prepared for high school years - beginning in the fall. How were we to prepare our transcripts, diploma programs, extra-curricular documentation, etc, etc, etc… 

I was surrounded by parents in similar seasons of life speaking about how their children were interning at this hospital, or volunteering at this space, etc, etc, etc - all with the wonderful goal of setting themselves up well for college and beyond. 

There was something, though, that would overwhelm me about these conversations… and I knew I wasn’t going to be able to follow these same set of steps. 

I will never forget our amazingly Godly evaluator’s response to my boat-load of questions regarding preparing for college. They have stuck with me throughout these past six years… they are at the forefront of almost all we do. “Work the transcript backwards, Deb. Let your kids learn to follow God with their hearts… Let them be obedient and free to discover and engage with their world. Write down everything they do… Journal, document, take notes… just keep track of those things. And when they pursue God and are obedient to Him — HE will write their transcript for them… He will set them up for their future.” 

I prepared our eldest, Katerina’s, last portfolio for her senior year. This year she is completing her last few classes and will graduate college as a paralegal at the age of eighteen. Her dream… to be an international child advocate with a specialty in immigration. She has traveled to incredibly poor places when she felt God’s nudge… She has taken triple the amount of world cultural studies necessary for college graduation. She has pursued God in Mexico, Jamaica, Russia…. Traveled to France, England, Czech Republic, Germany and across the USA twice… She has pursued God living side-by-side with my blessed mom helping her walk and function with some of her mobility needs. She has faithfully loved and served my nieces and nephews - some with special needs. She has served alongside me in our church community… She went from a struggling student to the dean’s list. 

Everyday has required a very conscious choice to let God write her story… and today she has seen God move in a way she could only hope for… 

Today she was offered an internship with an immigration lawyer handling asylum cases… The lawyer has agreed to help see her through to her next season in this journey. 

Today we saw the fruit of living and breathing and waiting and wondering and hoping that God would write down His same desires on the pages of this kid’s life. 

I will close with a beautiful Charlotte Mason quote: “The question is not - how much does the youth know when he has finished his education - but how much does he care? And about how many orders of things does he care? In fact, how large is the room in which he finds his feet set? And therefore, how full is the life he has before him?” 

The imagery that comes to mind was a spiral set of dominoes, lovingly placed by the Creator of Heaven before time…. writing the story of our lives with hope and grace… mercy and joy - excited to see… just how we would turn out!