Old Lady Stories: When Repeating A Grade Is A Good Thing

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

When Repeating A Grade Is A Good Thing

After going to several open house afternoons at area high schools, Paul decided he would like to go to Loyola High School. He was graduating from the eighth grade at Shrine of the Little Flower in June. Early on in elementary school, Paul had skipped a grade. Due to a gap in his chronological age, emotional maturity, and academic abilities, school was stressful for him even though he had very good grades.

One evening, Larry and I took some time to pray about Paul's education. After a few minutes, we sat quietly to see if God wanted to give us any insight about this. This time, we sensed that we should have Paul repeat the eighth grade at another school if possible, and maybe that would give him the opportunity to narrow the gap that was causing him problems. However, the school had to be able to give him subjects he'd not had before, and it needed to be close by since I had a toddler and an infant, and we had only one car which Larry used for work. We talked to Paul after that time of prayer and he felt okay about repeating the eighth grade at another school, but he said he still wanted to go to Loyola High School the following year. Loyola was at that time the most expensive high school in the Baltimore area. We told him to pray that God would provide if that's where God wanted him to be.

The next day, my friend Nancy stopped in and I spoke to her about what we sensed we were to do. Our stipulations looked impossible to us, considering the public middle school in our area. Nancy suggested calling the superintendent in our district to see if he had any suggestions. We did, and he advised us to call the principal of the new Northeast Middle School that was being built just outside of our district, but still within walking distance from our home, and would be completed before August. We called the principal, and "yes," she said, they "could definitely give him subjects he'd not had." And, "yes," he could start in September. What a blessing! God had provided for all of our needs.

This school placement was a miracle to us, but God was not finished.

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Introduction

Years ago when my children were still young, I was reading in Scripture how God had commanded the Israelites to tell their children what He, the Lord God, had done for them.

As I thought about this, I was inspired to buy a file box and file cards, and as I became aware of God's work in our lives, I was to write a sentence or two that would later jog my memory of the incidents or "minor miracles," as I began to call them. I would speak to the children of how I perceived God's work, but years later, because of writing these short sentences, I was able to incorporate these stories into our family history book. I believe these stories are the most important part of our history.

These stories have been written at various times for various reasons. One was written in response to a request for parishioners to share their First Communion memories with the First Communion class of 2003 at our then-local parish. Others were done in 1994 for our children's memory book. In 2003 at a day retreat for older ladies like myself, the priest giving the retreat spoke at length about "sharing the Gospel according to YOU!" He encouraged us to share our faith stories by writing them or putting them on tape. His talk gave me the inspiration I needed to finish writing the stories from my file box.

The accounts are written like a report, but they are true. This is my gospel, or good news, of Jesus' intervention in my and my family's lives through the grace won for all by His Cross and Resurrection.

And to him my soul shall live;
my descendants shall serve him.
Let the coming generation be told of the Lord
that they may proclaim to a people yet to be born
the justice he has shown.
--Psalm 22: 30-32