As I mentioned at the beginning of
summer, Seth was praying about the next steps in regards to missions. After his
trip to Peru, he made the decision to go to YWAM in Germany. While we were in Europe,
he was busy getting all the details organized and prepared. He did make it back
to Washington for a quick visit, so we were able to say goodbye again before he
embarked on this next adventure.
One of the best parts of August was
Josiah and Kaylee’s wedding. I was very glad that we were planning on getting
home the weekend before their wedding. My parents, of course, flew back into town
for a few days for the wedding. Josiah spent months getting the barn at Kaylee’s
parent’s house ready. It was the perfect location for their wedding and absolutely
stunning. Josiah transformed the barn and it was fun to see all the details he
put into making it just perfect for Kaylee. We were so blessed to have the family
together again for this special occasion and to be there to support Josiah and
Kaylee as they embark on this new adventure as husband and wife.
So, previously, I mentioned that once I
returned from Norway, I had to start back to work. This was not in my original plans,
but when I became Curricular Lead, it included working days during the summer,
and I didn’t get them all in before leaving on my cruise. Plus, Sue invited me
to do some training with her on Tuesday and Wednesday morning. So, needless to
say, my plan to rest for the week before starting work slipped away.
It is a good thing that I love my job
and have a great working relationship with the majority of the people that I
work with. There was a lot of planning that we had to do that first week to prepare.
We were starting the year off with three new teachers and a handful of new
para-educators. It takes a lot of planning to try to make staff and students so
there is a good fit. We wanted a mix of new paras and “seasoned” paras to help support
the new ones. I don’t think people realize how much thought goes into all the
details. Thankfully, one of my gifts is to see the details and organization.
Part of my new role is to train the
new teachers. I have a headstart on training Tracie since she was my student
teacher last year and she had been a para-educator for years at TOP. In fact, her
first year, she worked as a 1:1 with one of my students. I was looking forward
to working with Christy, one of the other new teachers, as I tried to convince her
to come to TOP back when I first came. She was a teacher when I was a
para-educator at Kentridge. She finally found her way to TOP, and we are lucky
to have her. It is going to be a blast to work alongside her. Of course, I tell
her that I probably wouldn’t be where I am if she had come with me and helped
me develop the ASC program at TOP… I had to learn so much those first few years
as we integrated the students with significant disabilities into the program. We
decided that I should share the classroom with the newest teacher to help him
learn the ropes of the program. He was super excited to learn from my expertise
and started day 1 with a bazillion questions. I don’t think he has slowed down
on the questions, but I do love his passion for the students and desire to learn
the program.
With the change of role, I also took
on the students that are attending the Achieve program at Highline College.
There were 10 students participating in Achieve and three students on campus
that I did not want to give up, so I took a higher caseload than the other
teachers. My boss was not thrilled with this, but I was able to convince her to
let me do it.
The first days back with the certified staff were amazing. We quickly realized that it was going to be a good year. The staff were very unified, and we had really good communication. We had a mix of training with Sue, my first official meeting as curricular lead, and time to prepare our rooms and do vector training. Of course, I used my “IEP” day to come and get to know the new para-educators and finish setting up the classroom.
Going back to my regular routine also brought about stress and challenge, as I worked through some personal issues. I don’t want to go into the details but over the summer, things happened that shook me to my core. The betrayal cut me to the core… I don’t understand the thought process behind their decisions, and past hurts came to the surface… as I had to process another situation in which the other party does not appear to think they did anything wrong. It is mind blowing and there are many days I would drive in my car having to talk myself down from exploding. To be honest, it is going to take time to work through all the emotions and eventually forgive. I know through the grace of God, I will find healing and be able to offer forgiveness, not because they are worthy… but because I have been forgiven even though I didn’t deserve it.
He gives and takes away - Always to His Glory
The month ended with a special visit
from Alyssa and the kids. They came over to visit the day before the twin’s 4th
birthday. She wasn’t having a big party this year, so we celebrated them at our
house. We shared with Alyssa about our trip to Europe and spent lots of time
getting hugs and kisses from the kids. I love listening to Amelia laugh as she
interacts with Matthew… she has learned a new trick of having him push out his teeth
and it gets her going. Hudson is getting so big and I am loving the baby
cuddles with him any chance I get. Christopher is adorable in his glasses… he
finally took his robot home with him after this visit.
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