Let God Finish The Story
WARNING: Serious Dad Bragging Ahead. Proceed With Caution. (… but if you do, you might also be encouraged.)
My youngest graduated from high school a week ago. I have to admit, there were days of doubt. He’s always been smart, but like his older brother (and probably his Dad), he has multiple learning differences (not learning disabilities): dyslexia and dysgraphia.
That’s why I was so surprised to see the words “Suma Cum Laude” under his name in the graduation program signifying Daniel graduated with a 4.0 GPA.
“Suma Cum Laude” were not words that crossed our minds often over the last few years. To be honest, we were more likely to think the reverse of that, “Lordy Come Soon-a,” as both boys struggled with their academics.
It was his sophomore year of high school when our oldest, David, hit a wall. We had shored him up with every tutor and reading program we could. For years I had told him he was a "Mac" in a "PC" world, which is true. Both David and Daniel’s brains process information differently than other people's. Teaching them the same way as every other kid is like trying to cram a Windows 95 floppy disk into a brand-new MacBook Pro. It doesn't work.
And who wants to be a PC anyway when you can be a shiny new Mac?
Years of being brilliant, creative, and witty, square pegs being hammered into a round hole had taken its toll on both David and Daniel. As David put it, "Eight hours a day is a long time to feel stupid.”
I thank God that David first came to us, eventually paving the way for Daniel as well. Some kids quit and believe the lie that they aren’t good enough. Others act out. Some will try to numb themselves through drugs and alcohol. Sadly, others consider bodily harm.
The boys had a choice to make. Continue to allow their current school to insist they conform to their way of teaching or leave all the friends they had gone to school with since kindergarten. To say it was difficult would be underselling it.
Enter a God who knew David and Daniel long before they were born and who placed Michele and me in the right house before we ever had kids. One of the best schools in the country for students with learning differences, The Shelton School, happens to be within walking distance of our home. People move from all over the country to attend.
The only problem for David was a waitlist of 5 kids hoping to enter the sophomore class. It was the middle of the year, and they said six kids would have to move for David to get in. The school told us that was not going to happen.
Even though there was no room for David, the school agreed to look over his testing and make recommendations for other programs in the area.
Then something completely unexpected happened during our meeting to go over our options.
The conversation went like this:
Shelton Advisor: "We want David to come here."
Us: "You said you have no room, and six people would have to move."
Shelton Advisor: "Yeah, but we think we can change his life, and that's what we get excited about."
Tears. Buckets of tears. That's what happens when someone believes in your child and throws a drowning family a lifeline.
One school says, "Our school is not for everyone." Another school says, "We'll move mountains to make this happen and change his life."
And they did, for both David and Daniel.
Cut to the chase. David went to the University of Oklahoma, earned an academic scholarship, graduated in 3 1/2 years with honors, now works for the #1 YouTuber in the world, and lives in North Carolina. (He’s worked for him since his senior year in high school.)
Daniel entered Shelton in middle school and was reading on an elementary school level at the time. In his junior year in high school, he scored one point short of perfect on the READING part of the ACT. As I mentioned earlier, he graduated Suma Cum Laude and received the highest academic scholarship SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) has to offer. He’ll start there this summer, and I can’t wait to see him fully develop his creative gifts.
Don’t get me wrong. Just like everyone else, we’ve got struggles. There are still sleepless nights of worry. We are NOT the Facebook perfect family and don’t want to even pretend to be.
But please do hear me on this. Whatever your struggle is right now, your story or your kid's story, God’s story is not fully written yet. When we were knee-deep in HOURS of homework and buckets of tears, that was not the ending. Michele and I wasted hours trying to write a future for our kids that was not ours to write. It was God’s pen we kept grabbing as we did not trust the author.
After all, drowning in the storm was not the end of the disciple's story.
“Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” Mark 4:38
Jesus never promised clear skies. He just promised us His presence in the storm and that He will get us to the other side.
If I learned anything from David and Daniel’s academic journey, it’s to not race ahead to your perceived ending in the midst of the storm as the disciples did thinking that would drown.
Let God keep the pen. Let Him write the ending. He might just get you to the other side in a way you never imagined. You see, He’s a much better writer than you or me.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11