You keep him in perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on you,
because he trusts in you.
Isaiah 26:3
In person, in remote learning, back in person, and so it continued. Over our Spring Break, the dorm students remained in Kandern since the time was too short to meet the requirements for quarantining after travel. The school staff helped provide activities such as cooking, gardening, poetry, ceramics, and computer programming classes for students to participate in during the day. Other members of the community worked in the dorms providing a break for the dorm staff. On Good Friday, there was a special night of worship and guided activities that focused on the message of Easter. While break was not what students had hoped for, many were still able to enjoy it. The German government required all schools to be in remote learning for the first week after break, but then reopened schools. They are currently requiring all staff and students have a negative quick test every three days to attend school.
There are many things about this past school year that have been hard and many things that would be easy to complain about, but there have also been many blessings. I have had the opportunity to deepen my friendship with Karen, one of the single middle school teachers (pictured above with Christian and I). Once a week, I walk over to Karen's place, we make dinner together, play with her cat, listen to a Christian podcast together, and talk. Another blessing has been Sunday afternoon bible study with friends from church. The elder who hosts us received special permission from the local town hall to have small groups in his home, because it is also his place of work as a counselor. So, each Sunday Christian and I go for "group counseling" to study the Word with others. I am also participating in a women's bible study that meets twice a month. We are currently studying the Sermon on the Mount. While our meetings take place on Zoom and not in person, it has been a time of good teaching and our conversations often center on how we can strengthen our faith and walk in fuller obedience. These opportunities, which have allowed me to deepen relationships with other Christians and study God's Word, have been a source of spiritual refreshment this year. I am not sure if I would appreciate these as much if this were a "normal" year, but they have been a rich blessing in a year with so many social restrictions. I hope and pray that each of you can see God's care and provision in whatever circumstances you find yourself.
Finding Support: The Story of a Resource Student in Three Parts
Part 2: Is This Worth It for My Daughter?
I wasn't sure if this would be worth it when we started. The cost, while reasonable, was still significant on a missionary's salary. Six hours of assessments, that meant six hours of missed class time. Rating scales, emails, forms, it is a thorough process, but I was nervous the whole way. What if the psychologist didn't find anything? What if the psychologist DID find something? How would my baby girl feel if she was labeled? How would her teachers treat her or maybe view her differently?
It had started when I clicked open the email from a teacher, and then another one, and a week later one from a third. They were all sending an update in which they shared concerns with how my daughter was doing in their class. Only three months earlier I had said the hard good-bye as I dropped off my baby for the first time at boarding school. We had felt she was ready as a 16-year-old starting her sophomore year. In elementary school, she had gone to local schools, which didn't work for long, and then I made the decision to home school her. As she started high school we joined an online school. Things weren't always easy for her in school, but she was intelligent and as long as I redirected her back to her schoolwork she had been able to complete it. Why was she struggling now? We had all hoped this would be the right fit for her and help her prepare for college and moving an ocean away from us. Then the guidance counselor had written to me, she was going to put me in contact with the school's Resource Supervisor. My fears were really growing then; what could I do to help from so far away?
Click. Quiet. I close my computer, sigh, look at my husband and smile. She is going to be all right. She is getting the support she needs, and she is going to be all right, I think to myself. We made it through the meeting. We made it through the last four months of seeing some progress but still having questions. When our daughter entered the Resource program, she had begun making progress, but there were still a lot of struggles for her in the classroom. She was growing but not all the issues went away. After a few months of intervention, her Resource teacher recommended we consider having her tested by a psychologist to see if she had a learning disability or some other underlying cause that we had not yet identified. And here we were now, having just sat through an hour-long meeting with the psychologist and our daughter, along with her Resource and classroom teachers. The psychologist had carefully shared her findings, noting how our daughter's strengths and weaknesses impacted her in the classroom. The teachers had listened carefully and at the end of the meeting each one had acknowledged strengths they had seen in our daughter and asked her if there were other ways they could help support her in the classroom. They discussed with her the accommodations being suggested, encouraged her to try some, and then asked her to give them feedback later on whether they were helping. I had feared that a label would be slapped on my baby girl and that would be all people could see of her. But thankfully, my fears were not realized. These teachers saw her as the individual she was, created in the image of God, but with a variety of strengths and weaknesses. They showed their kindness and love for her, and I knew we had placed her in the right environment. God had stayed faithful to my little girl and was helping her find the support that she needed within this caring community. I stood up and hugged my husband, "We are going to be all right," I said. To Be Continued...
Please Pray...
Praise God that we are on campus and in person!
Praise God that my new Resource students J. and K. are making progress
For a family in our community whose college-age son died unexpectedly in his sleep and especially for his sister who has returned from the funeral in the States this week to finish her junior year
For T., who is doing better with some of her struggles but still faces them from time to time
For the seniors to have a successful year academically, socially, emotionally, and spiritually, even as they are experiencing the loss of certain actinides (banquets, parties, trips, etc.)
For opportunities to ensure each of my seniors personally understand the gospel
For Christian and I, as we work out the details of our summer travel in AZ and CA
Blessings,
Becky
[email protected]
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