The morning before the start of a new school year at a new school started with surprise visitors in our bedroom. It was a bit dark still when I opened my eyes, but when I looked at the floor right beside our bed I saw two little bundles on the carpet. It was my two sons sound asleep. I let out a quiet sigh and felt my heart sink. This was a sign that my boys are getting very nervous about what’s coming and there isn’t much I can do to help them.
After attending a little Christian School where I felt they were protected and safe, time has come for my boys to go to public school. It is not a big school, but compared to the Christian Academy they were used to, this one seems overwhelming! To say the least, I am terrified! And now I can sense my boys are too. The worst thing is that I don’t know what more I can do to calm their/my fears. I have prayed without ceasing for this moment. I have recruited praying forces all around me for months now. I have filled my mind with Scripture that tells me not to be anxious. I have repeated to myself over and over that they will be OK…but I still haven’t let go.
The Lord, however, in His endless love and patience, has provided me comfort from an unlikely source, - my sister…
Yes, my sister, who is about 7 years older than me and lives back in Panama, came to my rescue sent by the Holy Spirit. Without me mentioning anything, she offered me uplifting words poured out of her own experience in an unexpected e-mail. The reason this was unexpected and I call her an unlikely source of encouragement is because, (all who know my sister would not really wonder about this : ) she is not the most empathetic person in the world. Kindness and gentleness are not really fruits that the Holy Spirit has gotten to in the garden of her soul yet. The funny thing is that she would be the first one to accept this as a fact (so I don’t feel like I’m bad-mouthing her : ).
At any rate, she wrote me a message, in her trademarked, matter-of-fact, no fuzz, no-nonsense style where she recalled her experience years ago when her son, my dear nephew Willy, had to change schools. He was exactly the same age as my older son Grant. He was also leaving a little Montessori School where she had felt he was protected and safe to go into a huge school where he knew nobody! She told me how she cried (which in itself was amazing! She never cries!). She cried about leaving the Principal, the teachers, the janitor, the bus driver, the building, everything! She remembered the first day of school when she took Willy in. She was truly scared to see the size of the classes and overwhelmed by it all. She said Willy was equally scared and that just made it all the much harder. It was as if a dark cloud had camped out on top of their heads, and the sun had ceased to shine (the dark cloud might have been a literal dark cloud, though, given the fact it was the rainy season in a tropical country : ).
She continued, however, with soothing words about how she cling to the Lord and how, after some rough days and weeks, the dark clouds began to clear up and the sun started to shine again. She reminded me that, though it was hard, Willy made friends at the new school, and he adjusted well. She told me to help Grant find activities or groups he can join so he can feel as if he belongs, for that always helps, and she stressed the importance of constant prayer all throughout. “Cling to Jesus. They will be OK,” she finished, and I was in awe. Though she didn’t say anything new to me; the fact that she had shared it was a clear example of the Hand of God at work. “Cling to Jesus. They will be OK.”
I rolled out of bed carefully, not to wake our sleeping visitors, and thought about my nephew. He has had to endure much hardship in his life, beginning with his father abandoning him when he was barely 3 years old, losing his dear Grandma, always living in a VERY tight budget, and lately losing his only Father figure and childhood home after the passing of my Dad, Willy has been able to overcome much in life, all mainly to the stoic faith and tough ways of his Mother. He doesn’t appreciate it much at all right now as he travels through the stages of young adulthood, claiming his independence, but my tall, strong, handsome, and smart twenty-year-old nephew Willy will someday discover that great part of his success came from an unlikely place.
In the meantime, maybe there is yet one more thing I can do to help Grant. I will tell him Cousin Willy’s story. To Grant, Willy is like this mighty; all powerful giant who deserves respect, and whom nothing could break. Maybe his story will bring him hope as it gives him a real example of someone who survived a similar big change in his life and became stronger for it. Maybe he will too find encouragement from one unlikely source.
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