Mikaela's Page

Mikaela's Page
Updated11/28/05

Mikaela is on the Move!

Mikaela is so fun! Her smile is so captivating and her tears are so genuine. She has always been a child that has felt deeply and is so committed about everything whether it be the justice in a fight with her sisters or her passion to love someone in her life. She is a child that truly has a heart for a lot! This is why we were surprised when she chose to go to school with Jennifer! We thought her connection to the neighborhood school would hold her tighter than anything. In the long run, her connection to her mom was what won. The reality is the neighborhood school is higher achieving, friendships come easier and the environment is new and crisp. She gave all of that up, so she can give her mom a kiss at lunchtime or give her a hug in the hallway. It brightens both mom’s and daughter’s day whenever these connections are made. God has completely blessed Mikaela’s choice because she has been quickly embraced by this community. She ran for Student Council Secretary and against all the other kids who have been in the school since kindergarten, won a spot on the much coveted Taylor Student Council. She has a teacher that like Mikaela, loves people more than anything, yet works hard to make learning enriching. Mikaela is most challenged at school by being in a ridiculously large 4th grade class without any room and huge behavior issues. But God has begun to mold Mikaela into a child that works to enfluence her environment to make it a better place instead of running away and trying to find something different. It has been hard, but when we discuss the school differences she focuses on being able to give me hug, talk to her teacher, razz the school secretaries or sit with the principal that she know loves her and her family. It is really kind of a cool reality check. Sometimes what is a perfect education for some kids is not what shows on the outward appearance, but instead what happens in the interactions that happen everyday. Who knows what next year might bring, but for now, we are loving the daily driving to “work” together and sharing our day as a family. Mom feels very blessed to have this reality at least for now.

What a Smile!

Mikaela with Kristen. Orange and Purple.

My Birthday Party - 9 Years Old

Mikaela’s interest are vast. She still swims. In fact she and her sisters all got the chance this summer to swim in the Olympic Training Center pool. This summer she worked hard to successfully qualify for state in backstroke. She loves sharing church choir with a close friend. She just joined the school percussion group and she is very excited to be playing the cello. Intramural and art clubs sometimes pop up at school and she is the first to sign up – but what she really loves is hanging around and playing made up games with anyone who will play with her. On the weekends, she gladly plays with her sisters, looks forward to overnights and in the winter loves to spend the weekend skiing. Again, what is important to Mikaela is who she is doing activities with.

Learning at the Zoo with Ed!

Learning is great, but she struggles with wanting to achieve for others. Her biggest stress is she wants to do well on CSAP because she knows her teacher is judged by these tests. This link to others has disabled her at times because fear never enables, but slowly God is helping Mikaela get perspective how to handle all the lives that we are so fortunate to which we connect. This year she has struggled a great deal because of the reality of other people in her life that hurt. A very close friends dad, who lived with us for a short time, died. This was extremely painful. The loss from the hurricane worries her because she is aware of all those people. A teacher she loved retired and she cried not because she would miss this teacher, but because she was so aware of how much this teacher would hurt because of leaving teaching. The reality of death, disappointment, and hurt – Mikaela seems to carry with her. But we believe God has been preparing Mikeala for the loss of her Grandfather. Slowly, Mikaela is figuring out that all this sad stuff is part of life and slowly Mikaela is learning how to lean on God with all these issues.