Lashed By Storms

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version,

Church and School

I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up and have not let my foes rejoice over me. -Psalm 30:1

  Each time the Schlegels moved, one thing foremost on their minds was looking for a new church home. Over the years, some of those searches had been quicker than others. Mike and Anne always prayed about their search, asking God to show them where they should worship.

  This time was different. They had lost their church home in Washington, an experience that shook them to the core. Feelings ranging from heartbreak and sadness, to shock, hadn’t totally faded. Those feelings were with them, lurking in the background, as they searched for a Colorado church home.

  “Mike was the first to question where we should start. And I told him we should just take our time, visit the many churches in the area, and the Spirit would let us know where He wanted us.

  “There were few Sundays we didn’t visit somewhere. Mega churches and small churches alike welcomed us. Some we visited several times. Over our evening meal we’d discuss our respective feelings, and often the boys would join in with comments of their own. We let them know their feelings and impressions were important to us. It had been different when they were little, but now, their input was welcomed. This would be a family decision, and one directed by God.

            “We listened, too, when our boys told us they were thinking about being baptized. I didn’t want to discourage them—even though they were older than I was when I wanted to be baptized. I remembered how it had felt when our family pastor told me I wasn’t ready. We definitely wanted our boys to feel comfortable with a new church home.”

            Mike and Anne put lots of miles on their car in their search for a place to worship. While each congregation made them feel welcome, and each of them was teaching from the Bible (some more than others), they didn’t feel led to a decision. More miles and more visits. While the process was, at times, frustrating, they knew God was in charge, and His timing didn’t always match theirs.

            One Sunday, tired from working on the house, they decided to visit The River, a church they had driven past many times. Afterwards, the four of them agreed they’d like to visit again. Before they did, Anne did some online research—and liked what she saw there.

            “But the pain from losing our church home in Washington hadn’t completely disappeared. Only someone who’s been through that type of hurt could fully understand our feelings, and Mike and I exercised restraint when it came to sharing with others what had happened.

            “On a warm Sunday morning, when we had rushed to get to The River on time, we found ourselves relaxing during the time of praise and singing. That morning, Pastor Mickey Lohr spoke by name about the very philosophy our former church had begun to embrace. In that moment, as we listened to him denounce that philosophy, we knew we would visit again.

  “We continued attending The River’s Sunday morning worship services. Could this be where God wants us? Will this become our church home? We had agreed to trust God on this, and not trust ourselves.

  “Our visiting turned into steady attendance. This man was teaching and preaching from the Bible. And on a warm Sunday morning, while Pastor Mickey was in the middle of delivering his sermon, Mike and I exchanged glances, and reached for each other’s hand. The Sprit had spoken to our heart; we knew we had found our church home.”

  After the service, Mike shared with Pastor Mickey the heartache they had experienced in Washington. Mike and Anne had been attending The River since the spring of 2012; now they could set aside their anguish and grief. They and their boys had found their church home.

Finding a School

            Anne knew she couldn’t go back to home schooling, and Mike agreed that public school was out of the question, particularly with the experiences her boys had while out from under her tutelage. It was summer, 2013. They needed to find a suitable educational environment that would meet the respective needs of their boys.

  “I remember telling Mike we had to identify another option. That meant me finding another option, since Mike busy with work. Not only that, we both knew he couldn’t home school even if he had been a stay-at-home dad. But I wished he wouldn’t just throw the whole thing my way – he was trusting me to again do so much of what I had done while he was deployed.

            “But he wasn’t deployed. He had retired from the Navy, and although we needed the income from his job, there were times I felt like I was doing everything. But I had no choice. Our boys needed a school, and I would have to find it.”

            After finishing her devotional time on a cloudy Wednesday morning, Anne felt led to begin her search. She tried to keep an open mind as she got a notepad from the room they wanted to eventually use as an office.

            “I started researching information on schools, doubtful anything would happen that morning. There were several Christian schools in the surrounding area, especially Longmont. I jotted down names and numbers. I had to stop the search process right after lunch, and leave the house for a personal appointment.

            “Mike and I had agreed we would stick with a Christian School, given each boy’s experience in public school. At least there were several that might offer a glimmer of hope.

            “The next morning, I started making phone calls. Nothing. Another call. Still nothing. I got up from our kitchen table, and refilled my glass with ice cubes. I sat back down, crunching ice between my teeth. If Mike were home, he’d ask me to stop. He didn’t like me crunching ice. I didn’t care. I pushed my notepad aside, frustrated.

            “But God spoke to my heart, and told me not to give up. I half-heartedly reviewed my notes, and realized I hadn’t been able to reach one of the schools on my list. Every time I had tried to call, there was a busy signal. I tried again, and waited.

            “I was caught off guard when I heard a voice on the other end of the line. As delicately as possible, I emptied my mouth of ice. The individual who had answered my call was pleasant, and I asked if she had a minute. She listened to my story, and I felt, finally, that someone was hearing my pain. But then, after a minute, she interrupted me. No, the school was full, and she informed me teachers there wouldn’t be able to meet my youngest son’s needs. I hadn’t told her I was also looking for a school for our oldest son.

            “Before I could respond, this kind woman told me there was another school, a faith-based Christian school, in Longmont, that might be able to help. She asked if I’d like the number, and I said yes. I jotted down the ten digits, and read them back to her. She wished me well, and hung up."

            Anne looked at the number she had been given, as well as the name of the faith-based school. She could have sworn she had heard someone mention that school to her. Maybe at church, or maybe at the grocery store? She didn’t remember.

            “Well, at least it was more than I had to go on before. I got up, refilled my glass with ice cubes, and pushed it aside, knowing Mike would be home in half an hour. I opened up my laptop, and as soon as the screen would let me, I typed four words in the search engine. Crossroads. School. Longmont. Colorado.

            “What came up, blew me away. I reached for an ice cube, and let it melt in my mouth as I checked out site after site. Was this school for real? Was this school a possibility? I kept researching, and then I found a YouTube video—and when I clicked on that I found myself listening to an interview with a woman named Barbara Bulthuis, Executive Director of Crossroads School.

            “The more I learned about the school, the more excited I became. Here was a Christian, private, alternative school for middle and high school students that had opened in August of 2010. Their vision was ‘Changing our world . . . one life at a time.’ I popped another ice cube in my mouth, and kept reading. I made notes about the staff, and was amazed when I read the school had a student teacher ratio of eight to one.

            “Mike came home late that afternoon. He barely made it through the door when I told him that maybe, just maybe, I had found a school for Aaron. He listened to me for a bit, and then told me I was getting ahead of myself.”

            “Anne, you just told me this school’s only been open for a couple of years,” he said. “Don’t get your hopes up too high. We need to find out more.”

            “But I have more to tell you,” I responded. “I verbalized the rest of my notes, and that’s when I asked Mike about his work schedule—I wanted to call and make an appointment with the school’s director. My husband reluctantly agreed, again cautioning me not to get my hopes up.”

            Barb Bulthuis personally answered the phone when Anne called. They set a mutually agreeable date for Mike and Anne, and their boys, to meet at the school.

Hope Rekindled

            Mike drove his family to Longmont for a meeting he wasn’t so sure about. Crossroads School was housed in a church facility. Barb Bulthuis gave them a warm greeting, and then a tour of the school.

            “It seemed rather strange, touring a small school when the students were on summer vacation. But Barb’s personality was engaging, and she informed us we’d also be meeting with the school’s principal, a woman by the name of Connie Nourse, a name Anne recognized from her research.

            “We learned so much in that meeting. These two women listened patiently as we spilled our guts with regards to our home schooling experiences, and our boys’ challenges with public school. Then they told us more about Crossroads, some of which I already knew.

            “Once a student was accepted, the school would do an extensive assessment of their educational abilities and needs. Those results would then drive the direction staff would take in designing an individualized learning program. The focus was getting to know each student as an individual, recognizing their God-given talents and skills, and then helping them develop social skills, anger management skills, or whatever was needed.

            “We listened, fascinated. This seemed to be too good to be true, but the two women sitting across from us were genuine. We were given details about tuition rates, the expectation that parents of students would donate time to the school, and what the school referred to as the Annual Friends Banquet.

            “The information we were given was consistent with my research, but included so much more. We were treated with kindness, respect, and dignity. There was one middle school slot open, and nothing else.

            “But we weren’t given an answer that afternoon. The staff would review our applications (we had filled those out with the hopes both boys might be accepted), pray about whether this would be a good fit for everyone, and then get back to us with an answer in a couple days. “We also prayed. We prayed that if it was God’s will, that this school would accept Aaron. We prayed that we would find a suitable school for Noah, knowing that Crossroads only had room to admit one additional student.”

            The Schlegels’ prayers were answered, and in a way they hadn’t anticipated. Crossroads staff, after prayer and a review of student enrollment for the fall, called Anne and told her they would accept both Aaron and Noah.

            “We were ecstatic. Our boys were excited, and apprehensive. Mike would help with the driving when his work schedule permitted. He had left his position at the hospital in Estes Park, and was now working locum tenens as an emergency room doctor, out-of-state.

            “We carefully planned our schedules, so the boys wouldn’t miss classes. We allowed forty minutes, one-way, to school. I was happy to not be home schooling. I was also considering ways I might volunteer my time and talents to benefit Crossroads.”

            The boys began acclimating to their new environment, one they hadn’t been in before.

            They found it strange to have every staff member, every teacher, take an interest in them. Assessments were done, and individualized programs put together for each of them.

            All students were required to attend chapel. Having been raised in a Christian home, this was something Noah and Aaron hadn’t experienced in their public school routine. A Bible and Life Skills class was also a requirement. They could spend time outdoors, but there was no place for students to shoot hoops.

            But soon, the lack of a basketball court didn’t matter. Aaron and Noah had attended classes for three weeks before their world, and the world of those around them, was turned upside down.

***

Because I had met Anne, Noah, and Aaron, through Crossroads, much of this part of their story was familiar. I had also met Mike, and I had learned about their finding a church home in Colorado. And I knew why their world was turned upside down shortly after the beginning of the 2013-2014 school year at Crossroads. Even so, I was taken aback as they shared with me the details of the next ‘storm’ they faced.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Return to Chapter 27

Continue to Chapter 29