Letting the Lord lead ... or ... God loves to play Dot-to-Dot

The following is a blog entry submitted to SDA Homeschool Blog:

When is it time to change?

When I graduated from Walla Walla College/University, I did so with my elementary education degree. I later completed a master’s in education, as I felt God called me to teach in our schools. In fact, I spent a couple of years teaching in Adventist schools located in Washington State, North Dakota, and Minnesota. But God had other plans.

As our son Marc’s kindergarten year approached, my husband and I talked and PRAYED about what we were going to do with Marc. Being a classroom teacher, I assumed we were going to enroll him in our local Adventist school. However, my husband hesitated. He pointed out several things that concerned him, including the high tuition, as well as the declining spiritual atmosphere and academic achievement. So, going against everything I was raised with, I decided I would homeschool Marc for his first year.

I began looking ahead to first grade, though, and actively began searching for a school to put Marc in. My husband was still leery of the local Adventist school, so I began to look around for other schools. A friend of mine encouraged me to look into a brand new non-denominational school she was enrolling her children in. It had everything I was looking for: strong curriculum, a focused spiritual life, uniforms, small student body … I was excited and attended their open house. It was there that she informed me they still needed teachers — and thrust an application into my hand.

But, there was something wrong. Every time I went to fill out that application, I was physically repulsed by the small document. I just could not put my pen to that paper. Several times, I tried to fill out that application, but each time I could not. When my friend asked me about it, stating she was waiting to present it to the staff, I explained to her what was going on. She told me simply, “Don’t fight against God, Vicky. I think he is trying to tell you not to apply.”

Shortly afterward, I got an urgent phone call from a family begging me to take their kids and give them specialized help in getting them “caught up” with their classmates at the school where I had taught 2nd and 3rd grade. For each of the next five years, I had these and other students in my home as I worked with their specific needs.

That changed Marc’s sixth grade year. No one called asking for help. It was just Marc, his little sister Charity, and me. I was confused, bewildered. I thought that God had called me to stay home and help other students in a specialized way while homeschooling my kids. Then, it dawned on me. MY kids needed help. Marc needed the time, the place, and the space to verbally work things out in his own mind. My daughter needed someone who could constantly challenge her, who could work with her as she completed her studies.

With this realization, I began to focus my prayers on Marc’s high school education. It was a couple years away, but I needed clear direction. Over the course of Marc’s 6th, 7th and 8th grade years, I considered many options. I researched various academies, both locally and in other places. We prayed about it, consulted our pocket book, talked to my parents about it, and prayed some more. The answer, it seemed, was heartburn.

I turned my attention to the local Christian high schools. I did my research carefully, looking at spiritual emphasis, selection of courses, tuition, dress code, curriculum … and I prayed!!!!! My answer – more heartburn. Time was beginning to run out and I wondered what God’s plan for Marc’s life was.

PAUSE ….

I’m now going to back up and introduce a second element of this story.

When Marc was about two years old, I, being a new mother, had a “mommy terror.” “What AM I going to do with this boy as he grows up?” I wondered. I turned to the internet and searched for appropriate boy activities. One of those activities was boys’ choirs. I looked at several boys' choirs located in various parts of the Twin Cities, but there was something unsettling about each one I looked at, so I mentally crossed off that activity as one we would not do.

Years pass, and Marc is now eight years old. One evening I found him crying in his room. I asked him what was wrong and he told me he wanted to learn to sing like the praise leader in our church. “Oh, honey,” I told him as I comforted him, “I would give you the world if I could. I would put you into a boys’ choir if I knew there was one who would work with us.” Instantly I was shocked. Where did THAT statement come from!?! I had already dismissed boys’ choirs, and had no intention of putting Marc in. However, his little tear-streaked face held such hope as he pleaded with me to look again.

I did look again, six years after that initial research, and much of what I found the first time I again found this time around. But … this time there was a choir that I didn’t remember seeing before. I researched them, and I was comfortable with everything they said. And, they had been around since 1976 and were well established in the Twin Cities. We eagerly enrolled Marc, where he thrived with the regular rehearsals and world-wide tours.

A very bad note hit the choir in November of 2011 when Marc was in 7th grade and the choir split into two. One part remained the original choir, and the other part became the North Star Boys’ Choir. We went with the NSBC.

OK, now let’s merge the first part and the second part together.

As I continued to pray for God’s leading in what I was supposed to do with Marc for high school, I considered continuing to homeschool him. But, that didn’t sit well, either. He needed a change. He needed to be accountable to other teachers; to feel that he was really a teenager, and not a “Mama’s boy.” Yet, he wasn’t quite ready to walk into a high school (public or Adventist) and be comfortable there.

So, crossing off Adventist, local Christian, and home schools, I thought I would check to see if there were any open courseware classes available on the internet. It was during my searching that I stumbled across NorthStar-Academy.org*. “Oh, look! A school with the same name as the choir,” I mused to myself. I browsed through its website pages first with half an eye, then with an eye to the details. I was interested. And that heartburn? Gone!! I spent time reviewing the school, and sent its website on to trusted friends, families, and advisers. They all came back with very positive reviews. I communicated with various members of the staff. I appreciated their well-thought-out and polite answers. And, I prayed! What was God’s will for my son?

My husband was not opposed to the idea; in fact, he was quite happy with my discovery. We decided to “road test” the school by having Marc take an elective class.
Marc did very well with the class, and learned much — about himself, the material presented, and how to be accountable to other teachers. After he finished the class, we reevaluated the school, looked one more time at the others, and have come to the conclusion that this is where God has led Marc to be.

As I look back on the past ten years of our schooling experience, I know that God has a plan. Until He shows me what that is, I will continue to educate my now nine-year-old daughter, support my son in his schooling, and let God direct in my life.

The Dots: Marc’s desire to sing -> the first boys’ choir -> split in choir leads to the North Star Boys’ Choir -> discover NSA**, which has the same name as the North Star Boys’ Choir (and, as a side note, is the same name as our local Adventist summer camp) -> Marc’s full time and his sister’s part time enrollment.

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*This post is not intended to promote any school over another. It is simply a testimony of how God has led our family, and an example of how we look at God’s leading over our son’s life.

** NorthStar Academy has two number-1 rankings from Online Schools Center's 30 Best Of The Best and The Best Schools.