Trusting God with My Son's Education

Tomorrow is the last day of public schools for the 2011-2012 school year.  And we still haven't heard from the School District of Philadelphia as to which school they have assigned our son Aaron to.  If you follow me, you know that we live in the Penn Alexander catchment area, but that all 24 hours of waiting in line netted us was #6 on the wait-list.  So, unless six kids un-enroll, Aaron has no room at the school we're supposed to be able to send him to, and instead we await the School District to assign him to another school.

You can hardly think of an issue that matters more to an urban parent than where his kids go to school.  And it is terrifying to think that your child's education is subject to the whims of the School District.  And, sorry to bust on our son, but he could use a good school like Penn Alexander, especially since we've seen how much of a difference it's made for our daughter Jada, who like Aaron has some developmental delays.  Of course, there's the practical matter of having to bear two morning drop-off locations, two sets of rules, two sets of friends, and two sets of fellow parents.  So, yeah, I'm sweating a little.

But I'm also trusting that, greater than the District, but far more benevolent and competent, is a God to whom we pray for Aaron daily (hourly!), who has our and his best interests in mind and can work out complex things that we could not possibly have conceived or even imagined.  It would not be the first time in my life that a seemingly crushing closed door in fact led to a unimaginably wonderful open door.

And so, despite the gnawing feeling of not having our first option for school location, and not even knowing what our school location is at all, it has not been hard to find peace with God and peace in God.  Perhaps our example and our words can testify to other parents around us that we trust not in ourselves but in a great and loving God.  Perhaps God has us and Aaron at another school for another reason.  Perhaps we will end up at Penn Alexander after all, and we are being taught a valuable lesson in letting go and letting God.

Who knows?  All I know is He knows.  Sometimes that's all we get.  And sometimes that's all we need.