Even the little things

We have put so much prayer into Kate's schooling, but I am ashamed to say that I am surprised that the Lord pays attention to even the small details. Oh, me, of little faith, if your Father in heaven knows when a sparrow falls...

Everyone knows how excited we were to hear that Kate was accepted by the charter school. We're not sure what did the trick. The school is so competitive to get into that most of the time they use the lottery system.

When we visited the school, I could tell that the principal was just going through the routine. He showed us the classroom, the playground, the cafeteria, and he was about to dismiss us when I asked him about the Turkish posters that were all over the place. He explained that the school offered language courses in Turkish, French and Spanish. I sighed, and expressed how disappointed I was that they didn't have a Mandarin course. He asked me why Mandarin, and I explained that Kate had been in an immersion preschool in PDX, and that we were really hoping for something like that.

Up until that point I kind of think he had us labeled as a couple of young kids trying to figure out what would be best for the kid. His eyes started to sparkle, and he started to ask Kate questions, and of she stared at him without saying anything. Then she finally looked at him, and copying his slightly accented voice she said, "Ay don unterstan yu." The principal smiled, led us to the door and said goodbye. He told us that we would know if she was accepted by the middle of the following week.

I'm pretty sure that her schooling at Yu Miao last year is what clinched the deal. Isn't it funny how God guides us even before we ask for the thing that He wants us to want?

So, then came the flurry of paper work. We had to fill out registration forms, get immunization records, give them emergency contact numbers and things like that. The school requires a uniforms, and I was cringing at the expense. This is not the time of year to start looking for school uniform pants on sale, and it was looking like we'd have to spend over $100 on pants, skirts, belts and shirts. And of course, the Lord looked down upon us and sent me to wander around Sears. I found 3 pairs of pants for $4 each. Since the cheapest pair of pants we'd been able to find up until then was about $13, I almost burst into tears. I guess I didn't realize how much I had been worrying about affording her clothes for the year.

I am glad for one thing. A uniform will make back to school shopping so much easier. The only "details" or "fashion statements" that Kate will be allowed to make will be in her shoes and her belt. Shopping for her belt was just a little traumatic. She had to choose two belts, and she couldn't decide. She wanted all FOUR belts. Well, that was just a little over the top for me, so I made her choose. She burst into tears because she loved all of them. Afterward we stopped for a little snack and talked about the difficulty of choosing between good things.