How in the world did my baby girl become a Kindergartener?!
Last week we took a family road trip to visit where Jaye and I went to college! On Fridays at Hope's school they have "college shirt day" where they get to take a break from their uniforms and wear a college shirt. We thought it'd be fun to let her pick a shirt from each of our schools and also to tour her around a bit! At both schools we found ponds with turtles and my little turtle lover was in heaven! (I think that was her favorite part of the whole day...seeing turtles)
I had never really been on the campus of Cal Poly Pomona so I really enjoyed getting to tour it with Jaye! My amazing husband went there for almost 9 years...at times only take 1 class a year in order to stay enrolled until he could afford to attend more. He is one of the hardest working men I know! It was so fun to have him point out where he went to school and then we took the picture below in front of the art gallery where Jaye was able to show a lot of his work! I love seeing how God has shaped him from then til now!
After much prayer and many meetings at various schools, we felt God opened doors for Hope to attend a Dual Immersion school. Her school itself isn't in the greatest part of town but we loved the staff, the campus, and that they had dual immersion. In Kindergarten, 90% of the day is taught only in Spanish. Hope's teacher, Sra. Mendoza doesn't ever speak in English to the kids...only Spanish. They bring another teacher to teach the 10% in English. So far, the Spanish hasn't seemed to bother her and we've encouraged her to listen with her ears and watch carefully with her eyes as her teacher will point things out or illustrate what she is saying.
Saturday night before school started, this Mama had a bit of a meltdown. The reality of Kindergarten sunk in and my heart was so sad. As I sat there crying, trying to figure out why I was so sad, I realized that I had spent almost every day of the last 5 1/2 years with my sweet girl. She was the one who woke me up each morning and who I spent my days with. We'd go running together, play at the park, go to Biblestudy, meet up with friends, and just relax together. I spent more time with her than anyone else! I process by journaling/writing so I decided I'd write Hope a letter (that she'd someday get). As I wrote out my heart on paper, I remembered that she truly isn't mine to begin with. My Savior, her Creator, entrusted her to her Daddy and I and it was our job to teach her and love her and lead her. I felt like God was telling me, "Carissa, surrender her to me. Let her go." And so...I did. I prayed and committed her once again into the hands of our Maker and chose to trust that HE had good plans for her and that HE would protect her. Aside from praying for her protection, I asked God to give her a good friend at school. I fell asleep that night with tears in my eyes but hearing in my heart, "BE STILL".
Sunday morning when we went to church we saw Hope's friend Marley. We had met Marley back in May after attending an info meeting at Hope's school. Marley's Mom had told us that her daughter was going to be at the same school but they were placed in the PM class. I hadn't talked to them since that Sunday back in May. This past Sunday when we pulled up, Marley's Mom told me that Marley got moved to the morning Kindergarten class and that she and Hope would be in the same class together. It was as if God was whispering, "See, I got this." Peace immediately took over the fear and sadness that was in my heart. The picture below is Hope and Marley on their 1st day of school together! God is so good to this Mama!
Jaye has been out of work since May and we pray daily for God to provide a job for him and for God to lead him to what comes next. So far, nothing. He had a temp job for a week and was blessed with another freelance thing, but no permanent job. While it would be really nice for him to have a job and to get back on our feet again financially, God has been so faithful in providing for us. Somehow our bank account hasn't hit zero and even an unexpected broken air conditioning was more than 1/2 covered by the freelance job. God has met our every need and then some. One thing I have come to see is that in Jaye's 3.5 months of being out of work, he's gotten to spend almost every day pouring into our kids. If there could be a "good" timing for getting laid off, it was now. He got to enjoy Hope's last few months of being at home and got to love on her and play with her and dream with her....and he got to be there to take her to her first day of school with me! I love that we've had these moments and memories together and I can't wait to see what God has in store for my incredible husband!
Day 1 of school was a success and she was excited to go back for day 2! I love that they wear uniforms...makes life so much easier in the mornings...and she looks so stinkin CUTE in them! So, here's to a great year! A year of change and new beginnings and of really fun adventures and journeys!
