October 6, 2022 wasn't just another day. It was an EXTRAordinary day, an Ephesians 3:20 kind of day.
"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory . . ."
I hadn't been home from work for very long. I was sitting on the couch trying to make myself get up to do the next thing when Mason came running down the stairs with his phone in his hand. Before I realize what's going on, he's literally throwing it at me.
The next day I came home with treats, and we had a little mini-party.
I've spent the last thirteen pushing this kid of mine to believe and know and understand that he can do anything he wants to do, and he can be anything he wants to be. He will have to work harder than most to get there, but he can do it! I truly believed every single word of everything I ever told him. But then he comes up with this idea of going to Louisiana Tech to major in electrical engineering, and I am at a loss for words (yes, it happens). For the first time in those thirteen years, I had a difficult time pushing him to pursue this dream because it seemed like we'd finally gotten to the thing that was outside the realm of possible. I mean, shoot for the stars and all, but electrical engineering at Louisiana Tech seemed galaxies away. That stopped me in my tracks, and I didn't know what to do with it. I don't know why. I don't know why I had such a hard time believing he can actually do this thing. I don't know why, after all the years of cheering him on and watching him do some really amazing things academically that I never thought he'd do, that I thought we'd arrived at "impossible," the thing he couldn't do.
So I didn't push anymore. And I didn't say a word. I didn't discourage him but I didn't encourage him either. I remained silent, and he remained adamant. He wasn't even interested in visiting many colleges last summer, and he applied for admission to only one. Louisiana Tech. I gently suggested he apply to others, not necessarily as a "back up plan" but just because you can apply for as many as you want to, and why not, but he refused. He's stubborn, that one. And, of course, he gave me "the look" after I read his email. You know, the one that says, "I told you so."
As I was thinking about over the last thirteen years later that same night, I landed for awhile on his 2nd grade year. Gosh, that was a really, really hard one. That was the worst one. Even though we're years removed from that now, I still can't think about it too much. I will never forget "the meeting." I expected it to be the one that would finally result in positive steps forward, the one that would result in him getting the extra support and services he needed to be successful in the classroom, the one that would result in a real partnership between us, his teacher and the administrators at his school. Instead it was the one where the principle wasn't paying attention and was instead constantly texting on her phone under the table. I'm not sure why she thought I couldn't see her. And then one of the administrators whispered to me afterwards, thinking she was doing me a huge favor, "You know, this school isn't the right fit for everybody. You should probably go ahead and send him to the other school down the road that isn't as rigorous as this one." I walked away from that meeting sad and mad. Sad for Mason and mad for that principle and administrator. Looking back, I was definitely more mad than sad, and I stayed mad for a good long while. Both that principle and administrator left two years later. If I'm being honest, I sure would love to see that administrator again and show her Mason's acceptance letter into Louisiana Tech. Honestly, it's probably a lot because of her. I was so mad that all I could think to do was prove her wrong, and that's what kept pushing me forward the next two and a half years after that as we fought through evaluations and therapies and homework and some really long days.
But, really and truly, this kid is the one who dug his heels in and did the hard work without giving up. One of his classes this year is a dual enrollment so he'll graduate high school with some college credit. He was just awarded the platinum scholar award (4.0 GPA) for the first semester of his senior year. He's been tutoring a student in algebra and making $20/hour doing so. I NEVER would've believed this would be possible, much less reality, when he was in 1st and 2nd grade. Never.
But God is faithful. He has a plan for Mason. He has gone before us every single step of the way and provided in ways both big and small. He has given us access to some amazing resources and orchestrated divine encounters exactly when we needed it. All glory is His for Mason's college acceptance letter!