A New Chapter

Trust and patience.  I guess you could say that has been the theme of the summer.

One night, back in March, I was laying in bed, and after researching and reading a friend's post on Facebook about how well her son was doing at his new school (they had moved to Indiana to go to this school a few months prior), I decided we needed to go to Fishers, Indiana and check out this school for Chase.  We made arrangements and drove to Fishers one Friday, shortly after that, in April.  It poured down rain the entire way there.

The school was great though!  The insurance in the state of Indiana was EVEN BETTER!  100% coverage for ABA therapy once your (small) deductible is met.  The insurance in TN doesn't cover ANY and it was starting to add up!  This new school we toured was an ABA based program.  5 days a week, 8 hours a day...it's intense, but it works!  We drove home, still pouring down rain, and decided we needed to move to Indiana and start Chase in this school.  We would go through this whole job hunt and moving our family once again.

Chase started the job searching process.  We made several wonderful connections, that were truly God-connections, in Indianapolis, and it looked like this was really going to happen!  We decided to pull Chase from The Brown Center at the end of May.  Our goal was to be in Indiana for him to start school by the end of the summer (even though the program goes year round).

So our time at BCA came to an end, May 28.  It was a bittersweet day.  We felt like it was time to move on and that these next few months we would just enjoy being "off" until we could figure out our move.

But God had bigger plans.  Another local "school" program kept being mentioned to me and kept popping up in conversation (Illuminate Academy) IA.  So, "just in case things didn't work out with Indiana" I went to tour the school so we would have another option for school in the fall.  We were not very happy with the previous year's experience with public school Pre-K, so Kindergarten wasn't an option at this point.  But it turned out IA was offering a summer camp program for the months of June and July, and since Chase had nothing else to do, I signed him up.

It was a lot of outside, sensory, and physical play.  I felt like it would be a nice change/break from his previous schedule...and he LOVED it!  The teachers and staff were AMAZING!  It was truly a God-send.  I felt like he was getting lots of stimulation (more than I could have ever provided him at home), interaction with peers, but still having "fun"!  And I felt like it was the perfect trial run for him to get acclimated with the staff and students before starting the next school year (if we decided to stay).

Chase had a couple of job leads, and a couple of interviews, but nothing panned out.  We always believed that if it was meant to work out, that God would provide.  We trusted that He would present the perfect job opportunity and things would fall in to place if that was His plan.  But by mid to late July there was nothing.  So we decided to take that as a sign that we were supposed to stay in Nashville.

I was secretly relieved.  The thought of moving away from all our family and friends, even further, to a place where we knew no one, and the winters were SO COLD, was scary.  IA summer camp was coming to a close, and Chase had had so much fun there over the summer that it was a no-brainer to just send him there in the fall.  They were in the process of moving locations/buildings and would start August 19.  We went through the application process, interviews, etc and were set to go by the end of July.

Then August rolled around.  It was a Monday.  I took the boys to the play ground right by our house, that happens to be part of the elementary school that we are zoned for also.  We were the only ones there and all of a sudden this panicky feeling overtook me.  I pictured Chase at this school.  Having recess on this playground (that he was already so familiar with).  I started sobbing and immediately called Chase.  "Are we making a mistake?"  "Should we be giving public school Kindergarten a shot?"  "Is this the best decision for Chase?"...I had a million doubts all of sudden.  I had gotten all the metro school info the previous weeks and had just set them all to the side without really even reading them.  The next day was come and go "Meet the Teacher" day.  We decided to just go check it out and see if we could get a feel for his class, teachers, schedule, etc.

Then another mom and her 2 kids walked up to the playground, so I hung up with Chase and tried to pull myself together.  We started talking and it turned out her son was starting Kindergarten also.  She had been a special ed teacher prior to having kids and had wonderful, reassuring things to say about this school.  I swear God sent her there to calm me down!  The more we talked, the more I felt pulled to give public school a chance.

So we went to "Meet the Teacher" and had another overwhelming feeling that THIS is actually what we needed to do for Chase.  It's scary going in to a place where you know none of the staff, you have no connections, know no other parents, etc.  But it turned out we DID have connections and familiar faces we weren't even aware of.  One of Chase's special ed teachers has a sister who was college roommates with one of my dearest friends here in Nashville.  And the new Vice Principle this year, it turns out, is a girl I grew up going to church with in Jackson.

It made sense on every level.  Our house lease will be up in Feb.  We really want to buy a house, but are in such limbo, not really knowing where to buy (because most of it depends on the best public school option for Chase at this point).  We haven't been able to save a penny because we are paying out of pocket for all schooling and therapies.  The public school option will save us a LOT of money, allow us to save for a house, as well as do some additional therapies after school that we haven't and wouldn't be able to afford otherwise.  It will give us a "trial run" to see if this school is a good fit for Chase before purchasing in this area.  And we feel like, if at any point it stops working for Chase, we can always pull him out and, God-willing there is a place for Chase at IA, we can send him there at any point.

God threw us a major curve ball!  I should have known to "never say 'never'"!  Because here we are doing the very thing we said we were not going to do (send Chase to public school Kindergarten at 5 years old).  But so far it was been a true blessing!

And just when we thought God had shown us His plan, he threw yet another curve ball at us.  A family friend texted me mid to late July asking if I would be interested in going back to work?  I said "Sure, but only on a part-time basis due to Chase's demanding schedule of therapies etc.".  He said there was a possibility of something in the future, but didn't elaborate and I didn't really give it a second thought.

The same week we decided to start Chase in Kindergarten (on a Wednesday), I got an interview for a Social Media Marketing Manager position at Cumberland Heights rehab facility that following Friday!  By the following Monday I had an offer for the job, which they so graciously allowed to be a part-time position for me.  It was a TOTAL God-send!  I've always talked about going back to work eventually, but I'm not sure I would have ever thought to look for something like this.  It's so perfect!  This job totally found me.  I have felt God at work in our lives these past few months more than ever!

So Monday starts a new chapter for the Herndon family.  Miles will be starting 5 days a week at his preschool (which he is THRILLED about).  Big Chase continues to "kill it" at his job, loving his coworkers and doctors.   Little Chase is (and I quote his special ed teacher) "blowing his IEP goals out of the water!"  And I will be starting a new job as Social Media Manager for Cumberland Heights.  Nashville...we are here to stay! ;)

We cannot thank our family and friends, our support system, enough for the continued prayers and encouragement on this journey!  It has been so humbling and we could not have made it to this point without all of you!