Today...

Today, I walked into an elementary school I had never set foot in. It felt different. It smelled different. It was different.

Today, I listened on the "other side" to teachers giving over views of the school year.

Today, I have to accept the fact that she will start "big" school on her own. She will not go to school with Matt and Molly. She will not attend Simpson, the school that we bought our house in Georgia for. She will not be taught a curriculum that I know "like the back of my hand". She will have to go to Cedar Ridge Elementary in Eden Prairie, MN.

Today as I walked in that unfamiliar elementary school and faced a sea of unfamiliar face and accents not like mine, I resisted the urge to pack up and run back to Georgia as fast as my van could carry us. Today, I faced the unknown and stood in line with everyone else. Today, I prayed fervently under my breath for the teacher Maddie will get, for the friends and enemies she will face, and for the grace she will need to survive it all.

Today, I need to remember my lesson I learned from my pirate. I am trying really hard not to begin the litany of "why" questions again. I am trying let go of my "dream" of Maddie growing up and attending school with the kids she has known since birth, the kids that she has attended preschool with, the kids she went to church with, the kids of my friends. I am trying not to worry if the kids will pick on her for her accent or not. I am trying to embrace completely being out of my comfort zone. I am trying to assure myself that this is just as good of a school as Simpson. I am trying to "Trust in the Lord with all my heard and lean not on my own understanding....".

Today, I know that God has a plan for Maddie. I know that He is holding her tight in His hands. I know that He has her best interest in heart. I know that He loves her even more than I.

Today, I registered my baby girl, my Mad-pie, my shopping buddy, my little princess for Kindergarten.

Tomorrow, I will do better. Tomorrow, I will embrace Minnesota and not ask why......I pray.