Reflections: Getting the girls in school

After arriving we had a ton of things to do.  Find a language school, gets visas, get the girls in school so we could go to language.  This was on top of just learning to live (you know like buying groceries, navigating public translation, paying bills...). 
To be honest school for the girls was the scariest thing I think I had done up to that point in my life.  We were in a new place, we did not understand one thing around us and here we are trying to put our 3 and 7 year old in school.  Again God brought a peace to Jen and I that was indescribable.  He had brought us this far so keep trusting was how we were living.

So what to do with Kyleigh?  Our landlord had told us about the best neighborhood school, Dusko Radovic,  so we headed over to check it out.  We went in and told the first adult we saw we wanted our daughter to go to school here.  Shock- that is the only way to describe the look on this ladies face.  We spoke no Serbian and not very many people in the school spoke English.  Finally they found an English teacher (Vesna) who got us to the office to meet with the principal.  Most of this day was a blur but I remeber being asked several times "you want her to go to school here, not the international school"
"Yes we want her here, with Serbs, learning"  Again shock.  Finally they brought the 2nd grade teacher down who spoke a little English and they told us what supplies we needed and to bring Kyleigh back tomorrow for her first day.  I think on January 18th 2010, my Kyleigh was the bravest girl in the world - she hugged my neck and walked right into that school - fearless.  Fearless because at 7 she knew she was not doing this alone, the God of the universe walked with her.  On the other hand I was a wreck - but one day at a time, following was all we could do.  That school has become one of my favorite places in all of Serbia.  It feels right and my kids feel at home there

Now Miki's school was alot different.  One of our neighbors had told us about a good private Kindergarten in the neighborhood, and so we contacted the owner and set up a meeting.  It was a great place. 18 kids, three teachers and they all spoke English.  Miki was nervous about a new school but she loved Sunacne school - and we loved here teachers and friends.

As I look back on the last four years, I would do things differently, but these two decisions, I would not change a thing.  Our kids have made great friends, we have been accepted by the community and Jen and I have made some dear friends through these relationships.  Miki goes to Dusko Radovic now and has the same teacher K had.  We love that school, the people there have impacted our lives in such a phenominal way, and I pray we have impacted them.