School Time

Another year begins...another milestone reached...

School has begun. For Joshua and Haley, college moves on. Joshua is back at MU following his semester in China. He will have a very busy semester with lots of hours as he works to complete his degree. Haley is looking forward to finally being in a classroom as she completes her student teaching requirements and looks forward to her graduation in December.

For Anna and Abby, their senior year has begun. Our family was created and moved into our new Columbia home in time for them to attend Kindergarten. Because Joshua and Haley began 4th grade when school started in the fall, they are the first of our children to do all their schooling here in Columbia. And now they are seniors. It is incredible to me how fast this time has gone by and how proud I am of both of them. As we are having senior pictures done, I look at them both and see how beautiful they are - both inside and out. It is so exciting to me as we talk, plan and investigate different career/college paths for each of their futures.

And for Caleb and Amanda, their Junior year has begun. New classes, new experiences (Caleb is taking his first electronics class as Amanda begins foreign language studies and a drama class she is so excited about!)help to make each day new.

Earlier this week as I watched them walk through the front doors of their school together, I again found myself in my car with tears silently falling. It was almost two years ago (Oct. 2006) that we learned of Amanda's diagnosis. At that time, no one gave us hope for her future. I clearly remember the first day that she went back to school following her first round of chemo treatments. I cried on that day and begged God to please let me watch her and Caleb walk through the doors together many, many more times. And He has. For two more years our daughter has handled treatments, travel and procedures and always returned to walk through the doors with her brother.

Each day I pray, begging God to heal my daughter. But until that prayer is fully answered, I want to remember that each day along the path of this journey, He has given us a miracle. Each smile, each "A" on her report card as she completes another year of schooling, each soccer game she competes in, each basketball game as she cheers on others, each Broadway musical song that we have sung together in the kitchen, each of the hundreds of nights that I have been privileged to tuck her into bed and pray with her, each of those moments are a miracle.

Hundreds and hundreds of miracles. I am so grateful.

Yet still praying for, trusting for, and longing for Amanda's healing even as I thank Him for these.