Life Seasons

I was driving home tonight from a parent development meeting that my friends at South Elementary and the Iron County School district put on. This is open to all parents but there is only a small group of us (3 regulars) that actually attend which is really rather sad because the information is so very good. The special needs teachers from South and Iron Springs (I think)Elementary schools work together so it alternates between the two schools. Tonight was out in Iron Springs. Anyhow, I was walking out to the car after the meeting and just felt so much gratitude for these teachers who have become my friends. These ladies love my little Jack and I feel that love every time I meet with them.

I must confess that I was not particularly involved with the school in Florida or the school district. The little interaction that I had with them came in the last few months that we were there. They were good people, of that there is no doubt. I knew Jack's teacher Mrs. George loved him and worked very hard with him. I never experienced that same overall love from the others there. One of the hardest things I ever had to do as a parent came the day that I attended an IEP meeting for Jack and listened as every challenge that this little 5 year old boy had was outlined and detailed. I heard about his disrespect for women and all of his other failures. It was painful to me, my heart ached for my little boy. When they asked if I had anything I wanted to add I said yes. I pointed out that this was a little boy with a very loving heart. There were other things that I said as well and you can be sure that I did it with tears in my eyes and a voice that cracked. Can't help if that is who I am. Anyway, I had a few apologies from some in the group after that and some acknowledgements that in fact Jack was very loving. In contrast I have never experienced anything negative from my friends at South. As I mentioned they love Jack. Certainly they are aware of his challenges but they keep it in perspective and focus on love. I hate to use that word so loosely but that is what it is and it is a completely different feel from what we experienced in Florida. There it seemed that Jack was an interruption to their job and here it seems that understanding Jack and then helping him learn in a way he is receptive to, loving him all along the way regardless of his challenges is the priority. I appreciate that so very much.

Jack has had a rough couple of weeks as he has been in skills more then he has been in class. When you hit another student you go to skills for 3 days to learn about social behavior skills and to earn your way back to class. He still gets his work. He has been in a cycle of being in skills for three days and in class for 1 for the last 10 days. We have two more days of skills this week and then back to regular class starting next week. You never want to hear this about your child. I had opportunity to discuss it with the teachers tonight and expected them to be a little put out by this recent pattern. Mrs. Coonan assured me that he is doing great and that he will be fine and then she went on to share a story about him and how bright and cheery he was. The other two teachers also went on to tell me their own stories about Jack and all three of them talked about how much they just love him and how loving he is. It does my heart good to know that this loving boy has not gone away somewhere. He is still there and he still touches hearts by who he is.

I walked out to the car to drive home and was very grateful for where we are at right now. I don't know that I could have found a better place for Jack to be or for Natty, Andy and myself. We have been loved, we have been cared for and we are a pretty happy bunch. I am grateful for that.

There are seasons in our lives when we get to experience different things. I think I learned growing up what it was like to have years of feast and years of famine. I think we all learned that our value was not based on material possessions or what we could acquire. Lest I am misunderstood, I don't think having things is bad but if our own self worth is determined by what car we drive or the house we live in then we could be in for a rough time and need to take another look at what the priorities of our lives should be.

I am in a season of my life where I have had to learn to stretch some. I don't know how flexible I have become with all of this stretching. I usually find that I lack the time and the ability to keep it all together and to accomplish all that I must. In fact today I spent an unplanned hour and a half with Jack who was having a melt down because of the new Wii rule I laid down. He was arguing the rule and was not happy about it at all. I finally had to send him to his room so he could settle down. I then had to go back and meet with him some more so that we could gain some understanding and clarity on our choices. Anyway, this season isn't one of ease. We have had to make some tough choices. Throughout the experiences I have felt the love of the Lord and I have drawn closer to him. Also in this season I have had times of difficulty and great struggle. Some days it is hard to focus on the blessings. It isn't always easy to remember the lessons taught the Prophet Joseph that these things are but for a moment and will give you experience. Alas, I am grateful the the Lord has patience with me. I hope that I can conduct myself in a manner pleasing to him regardless of the challenges that come forth. Those challenges, whatever they may be, are only for a season.