Noah

Thanks so much for all of you who have been praying for us regarding Noah and his schooling issues.

After much prayer and seeking the Lord, we have decided to put him in the international school here in our town.

As I told you before, Kidsland is good for Dave's age, but Noah is just past the kindy/preschool activities. Noah had such a good preschool/pre-prep experience at St. Lukes in Bundaberg. I have been doing Prep with him this year through Queensland Education and that has been great! We are just about finished with his Prep year now.....August!!!!

We want Noah to learn the local lingo and he will have that at this school too. Noah is also going to be getting language tutoring (conversational speaking) with our language teacher.

The big dilemma with Noah's school has been what grade he will go into. By the Australia system, he will be entering Grade 1 in January. So when we move from our town in another year or so, he will need to be ready to start Grade 2. By the American system, he would be starting Kindergarten this August. Really though, he has already finished his kindergarten year with me through the Australian system. Confused yet? AHHH! We really dont want him getting behind the Australia system, and I dont want him bored doing Kindergarten again for the second time.

So, we went and met with the 1st Grade teacher. She has been teaching for 30 years. She took Noah to the class (only 6 students in the class) and he was able to read the books they were reading now in class. They are doing memory verses as well, and Noah told her some of the ones he has memorized with me. The math is a little different, so the teacher gave us some worksheets to take home and do with him and see how he went. We sat down, worked with him, and he caught on pretty quickly.

I have really been on my knees all week about this. You just have no idea. Because we have lived overseas before, we knew that in moving here, that all expectations just needed to be thrown out the window. And really, we have done that....in regards to living within the culture, language, etc. I must say though I did not take into consideration Noah's schooling. I though that was nailed down. That is one thing I thought we could sort of depend on. So now, the Lord has really been working in me, teaching me how to depend on him and him alone, knowing that he is always in control.

I was talking with an awesome friend this week about being blown in the wind like the waves, but I feel a bit like I have been doing that this week. Should we do it or not? What choice is right? What if Noah struggles and the work is too hard? Are we pushing him too hard? What if he doesnt learn the local lingo? The Lord just brought me back knowing that I need only be grounded in him and him alone.

We have been doing language this week (the new method that I will share with you later) and it has been made very clear that I cannot learn this language with 3 kids running around the house. It just isnt going to happen. I know for a fact that I will not make it here without language. So, I feel that the Lord made it clear.

After the little mosque school, the decision about Dave was clear because of our desire for him to learn the local lingo and experience a preschool environment. For some reason though, I just wanted to hold onto Noah. I cannot explain it. I guess I thought I would be homeschooling the whole time we were here. Well, after wrestling this week with the Lord, I have just committed Noah to the Lord knowing that we have been given an awesome opportunity for Noah to be taught by a real experienced teacher, and to me, learning to read is critical-so I feel that Noah is going to be getting the best. He will be getting the language too so that is a blessing as well.

Noah's school year will finish in May, and then we will reassess-where we are at with the language and how he is doing in school. This school is not like the international schools that we experienced in Vietnam. It's specific purpose is to support people in our position so that we can do our jobs! We are just so thankful for the resources the Lord has blessed us with here. Financially, we had not planned on putting either boy in a school. But you know what, the Lord has just made this decision so clear. So, I am sure he will provide for us! He is always so faithful.

So thanks guys to all of you who are walking with us on this journey!