Don’t Fight the Providence

This past summer has been one of the hardest summers of my life.

 

It took six weeks from the time I decided to move back to Miami to the time we got here. Six weeks of intense pressure, packing, deciding what to ship, what to take with me, what to give away, and what to sell. Then doing all that.

 

Of course, one of the first things David and I decided to deal with was the kids’ school. So, we found a school that we thought would be a good fit, and in the middle of all the craziness of packing, I was in touch with this school, trying to get them all the reference letters and background checks their FBI admissions division required.

 

Actually, it’s pretty funny, looking at it from the outside. Schools here have very organized and detailed report cards, and they’re actually computerized. Except for the last school, every school we were at in Israel just gave us hand-written report cards, saying if they did excellent, very well, well, and “why did you bother to put your kid in our school because he is so disruptive and doesn’t pay attention.”

 

Of course, yours truly hates clutter and saw no reason to keep these incriminating report cards, so I tossed them.

 

Well. Mrs. Mother of the Year gave them a blank stare over the phone when they asked for the evidence. “Ummm… I don’t remember where I put them…” I sheepishly told Admissions Agent #2974.

 

So, we finally get here and have three interviews per kid scheduled at all different times, plus testing, plus more interviews. And they obviously need psychological evaluations, because what Ivy League wannabe school would dare accept a kid if they don’t know every single thing about how his brain works and why?

 

Between all this running around we’re obviously looking for a place to live, plus my little 4-year-old boyfriend wasn’t getting enough financial aid from the school, so I was also looking for an affordable preschool (what an oxymoron) in the area.

 

Anyhow. Regarding my two oldest ones, the school told me straight out: “We don’t know what to do with them.”

 

$)%*#U$@)#@#$%^Эгер олуттуу ???

 

EXCUSE ME, BUT I THOUGHT YOU WERE A SCHOOL THAT COULD DEAL WITH, YOU KNOW, KIDS THAT DON’T KNOW STUFF!!!!!

 

And then, after making us wait a full month, they come back to us and say, “We apologize for the inconvenience, but we cannot accept your oldest son into our poorly managed program that is strictly tailored for kids who are robots.”

 

WHAAAA???

 

This school offered no solutions, except to put them in private tutoring, which is between $65-100 per hour. NO THANK YOU.

 

They had no program for kids who were on lower reading and math levels, and no way to help those kids.

 

Can you imagine the anguish we suffered for the next month after that? That was the only school we were considering, because logistically the other one was too far from where we planned to live.

 

Oh, yeah, and the whole living thing–that was a whole ‘nother fiasco. No time for that drama in this article.

 

There was another school, but it was honestly my last choice because I vaguely remember having gone there once many years ago and at the time it was not a good fit. So, I very much resisted even considering going there.

 

But, as we sadly saw every other potential school option disappear, whether because they had run out of financial aid or they were not accredited (but so what?), I was forced to apply to this school.

 

All I can say is WOW.

 

I was beyond AMAZED at how well they were able to meet our needs!

 

For my oldest son, they actually have a program for English and Math that is with an online tutor and a facilitator in the classroom, and he can learn on his level and progress at his own pace. For my second and third sons, they have an amazing resource room that will help them learn on their levels as well.

 

Plus, my friend told me about this great tutoring program that is very professional and actually affordable, so they can supplement after school!

 

All I can say is: my kids are going to hate me! YESSSS!!

 

The painful process of Hashem literally closing every door and opening the only door that was Lucky Door #3 was a huge learning opportunity for me.

 

It is so obvious that the world runs on Divine providence. What makes life painful is that we don’t see why Hashem is doing what He does, at least not until we’ve gone through some level of suffering.

 

But here’s the other thing I realized.

 

If you want to get through these challenges as smoothly as possible, I have four big words of advice:

 

Don’t fight the providence.

 

Whether it’s a new school, a new house, or even a new potential spouse, be open to every possibility that Hashem is putting your way. If it doesn’t work out, there is nothing more life-saving than realizing it’s not what Hashem wanted for you.

 

You know, if we only trusted Hashem more, if we really understood that He knows what He’s doing, we’d save ourselves so much worry, anxiety, frustration, anger, sadness, inability to move forward, fear, self-persecution, hate, resentment, second-guessing, what if’s, I should have’s, I shouldn’t have’s, and on and on.

 

Seriously.

 

Don’t fight the providence. Go with the flow. Whatever Hashem wants, that’s what will happen.

 

Our job is just to do our best, put in our effort, and let Hashem make the magic from behind the scenes.

 

It’s kind of like Disney World. Speaking of Disney, I’m so bummed we didn’t get to go! That was one of the things I was most looking forward to doing this summer!