The miracle of Isaac's orchestra concert

This is a long story, but it deserves to be told.  Nearly three years ago, when we first decided that John was supposed to go to business school, one of the things that I was the most sad about was the fact that our kids would be so old by the time we got finished.  It wasn't their age that bothered me, but rather the missed opportunities for them because we would not have money to allow them to participate in sports and even more, music lessons of any kind. 

At the time, Isaac was seven.  We had only been out of school for a year.  We were finally to the point where we could afford some music lessons for Isaac and Avery.  Then came the revelation that we needed to go back to school.  We put off music lessons, because I didn't want to just get started, then have to quit and move six months later, and we were trying to save money for the exorbitant tuition costs.  Well, as luck would have it, John didn't get into business school that year.  So now the kids were going to have to wait even longer.  I was heartbroken.  I felt like this was a worthy desire as a mother, and tearfully expressed this to Heavenly Father more than once. 

The second year we applied, John did get in, so we sold our house, and I moved in with Grandma and Grandpa for the summer, while John finished working in Dallas.   All summer long I looked for a house for us to rent in Chicago.  I prayed hard.  I prayed to know where the best place was for our family to live.  Evanston elementary schools near Kellogg were no good, so it was obvious that we needed to be just north, in Wilmette, which has some of the best schools in the state.   Still, none of the houses for rent in Wilmette felt right.  I felt lost, and prayed for  more guidance. 

The inspiration came to look more closely at the elementary schools.  All of the Wilmette elementary schools ended at 4th grade, then started middle school in 5th grade, which I hated because that meant Isaac would be in 4 different schools in 4 years.   Then one day while I was researching rental homes, I found one elementary school in Glenview, just next to Wilmette, that was in its very own school district.  Its boundaries incorporated parts of Wilmette, and it went up to 5th grade.  When I got on one of the school ranking websites and read some parent reviews of the school, I knew that this was where we were supposed to be.  The school ranked very highly in the state, was a small sized school, and had a wonderful orchestra program, offering free private music lessons to their students once a week, with an additional group lessons once a week.

There were only three houses for rent in the school's boundaries.  The first one turned us down because, even though we had a great credit score, John would be unemployed as a student.  The second home turned us down because we had five children, and instead they rented the home to a couple with three big dogs.  The third and final home decided to rent to us, and I feel like Heavenly Father hand picked it for us.  It is not huge, but big enough.  It has a very small backyard, but at least it is fenced and has a swing set.  It is next to Karen, who has become a dear friend to me.  It has not been perfect (remember the flood), but it has worked.  And, my kids get free music lessons.

Tonight we attended Isaac's orchestra concert.  They played selections from Harry Potter, including Hedwig's song and the Hogwarts theme, and Sleighride.  My heart filled with gratitude while he played.  I was reminded of those nights nearly three years ago, pouring my heart out to Heavenly Father.   And I was reminded once again that the things that are important to us, are important to Him.




Isaac peeking out from the back before the concert.





After the concert, very proud of himself,
and rightly so.
He did wonderfully!