and another began, last Friday.
Because our youngest daughter graduated from high school.
Praise the Lord!
He has been so faithful to her and she has grown in so many ways.
Honestly, I don’t know where to start counting His blessings.
It is why there’s a cross on her tassel instead of a year.
Anne put it there because,
“God is the One who brought me through this, and it’s my way of thanking and remembering His goodness to me.”
I just smiled and nodded.
For Anne to complete her GED has been a long and difficult journey.
Anne has always found book learning challenging.
Reading was especially difficult.
I kept looking for patterns, something which would guide me as to what she was grappling with.
God brought us some solutions during her 5th grade year.
She was experiencing health issues and our doctor sent us to a specialist.
“Migraines, she having migraine headaches.”
The doctor spoke so matter-a-fact about it, but I couldn’t wrap my mind around it.
“Isn’t she too young for that?!”
He calmly explained it was unusual, but not impossible.
He gave me some things to try and foods to avoid.
We made the changes and she improved.
About the same time I was able to find an eye doctor who found out why Anne would pass an exam, but was struggling to read anything in the afternoon.
She has an unusual eye fatigue problem, her dad, my husband does as well.
When the eye doctor caught it, she ordered glasses right away and explained that Anne’s eyes couldn’t hold a focus after 15-20 minutes.
I remember thinking, “No wonder she’s struggling in school!”
In middle school I’d taken her and two siblings to a tutor who specialized in helping those with learning disabilities.
After doing lessons twice a week for over a year, I received some training from her to work with the kids myself.
My husband’s job had changed and we couldn’t afford the lessons any longer.
Then we took the big step.
I went to the school district and asked to have Anne and her sister tested for learning disabilities.
My husband and I had done that for our son years before, so it wasn’t an unknown.
I can’t say enough good things about the people we worked with in the school.
They were God’s blessing to our family and I love them.
Anne and Bell began taking one class a day in the SPED room after both being classified as having learning disabilities.
When we moved here, I was nervous.
Being a homeschooling family is one thing, but having your students on IEPs and still homeschooling is another completely.
God was so patient with me and my fears.
That summer held so many changes.
Before our move here, Anne’s health went seriously down hill.
Our doctor had me make a food journal and we started noticing a pattern.
Anne is hypoglycemic and if she doesn’t eat protein every four hours she has all kinds of trouble.
So, with our move came a new schedule which included Anne eating protein often.
When school began we contacted them and began the meetings.
(If you don’t know the process with an IEP, just trust me, there’s meetings.)
I explained to the head Special Education teacher we had just moved from a tiny rural place (like 800 people total) to where we were now (sitting in a highschool with 1,000 students) and how we were willing to do whatever was required.
Anne had to begin attending class, twice to three times a week depending on the schedule.
It was not a little frightening.
After the first week I mentioned Anne’s trouble in dealing with the mob of students as she was trying to make her way to class.
The teacher changed her schedule so she’d be coming and going while regular classes were in session.
We were so surprised and thankful, Anne actually began enjoying her class.
After about a month of this, Anne had finished all the required testing and we had another meeting.
“We can not provide services for her, because she no longer has a learning disability.”
I cried.
I couldn’t find the words to express my joy at the improvements she had made.
Anne no longer had to attend the high school, we simply continued her education at home and praised God for this unexpected blessing.
After all her struggles, it was very understandable that she felt a good deal of concern about her ability to pass the GED.
She studied and took practice tests as well as online classes.
She stuck to it and a week ago she passed her final test.
We are excitedly awaiting her diploma.
God has answered our prayers and provided for her in incredible ways.
We are enjoying this month with our graduate.
She’s going to be leaving us for the summer.
God put it on her heart to live with my mom and care for her while Mom under goes two surgeries, first on her right foot and then the left.
We will miss Anne so much, but are so glad she’s doing this.
My heart can not contain the joy I have when I see my children walk with Jesus.
Paul’s words speak clearly for me:
Philippians 1:3 KJV — I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,
Dear Lord Jesus,
Thank You for Your faithfulness. You are incredible and I praise Your holy name. Lord, thank You for each of our children and how You are guiding them. Lord this journey of our daughter’s has been difficult, but it’s made the end so much sweeter. Thank You for blessing her in these things. Thank You for teaching her about trusting in You. Lord, whatever the next chapter holds, we will praise You. May her life bring glory to Your name. Amen.
patientlyhopeful 