After three and a half years, I can breathe normally again.

Justin has completed a week and a half of fourth grade, in a classroom, in a building, in a school.

This did not happen without struggle. There were many conversations, tears, battles, fear. His fear about being away from me for seven hours a day.

This was a trial all summer. The impending doom.

So it was a combination of desperate prayer, realistic discussions, tough love, and unadulterated bribery that got him in the school doors.

Justin’s teacher reports great listening skills, a desire to please, excellent reading capabilities, even sharing his book with another student and saying encouraging words to another boy who was having a case of first week jitters.

God did that. God did all of that.

We won’t be without bumps in the road. But I am convinced that Justin has come back to us for good.