A Different Kind of School Year

After surrendering the situation to God, Elizabeth Estrada experienced peace about her son's decisions regarding his education.

For the last couple of years, my 16-year-old son has struggled with anxiety and depression. This has caused him to struggle and feel defeated in school.

Last year, he was a junior in high school and stopped attending school in late September. His condition had gotten worse, as he is autistic as well.

His doctors suggested a variety of scenarios, but they didn’t meet his needs. Finally in January, he started seeing an Autism specialist. That has been a huge blessing. She has been able to guide and support him, but most of all help him feel loved and accepted.

This situation has been difficult for me because I wasn’t sure if not sending him to school was the right thing to do and I felt guilty. I prayed and prayed to God that He would guide me, but then I surrendered it the ENTIRE situation to Him.

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In one of my son’s sessions his specialist suggested that he think about other options for school, even if they were “outside the box.” She told him to consider several options including taking the GED assessment. To be honest, I was scared and confused. After talking to my son and praying, lots of praying, I told my son to choose what felt right and that it didn’t matter if it was different.

Finally, after many months of waiting for his decision, two weeks ago he decided he would go the GED route and I agreed. We have been researching options and his specialist will guide us through the process.

I have been thinking about this a lot because I had an idea of what his senior year would look like and how exciting it would be for us. I never shared these thoughts with my son, thank goodness, because he would feel that he had disappointed me, which is not true.

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I prayed and prayed to God that He would guide me, but then I surrendered it the ENTIRE situation to Him. #CatholicMom

For many years, on my spiritual journey, I have asked God to help me trust Him more, learn to surrender, and to become closer to Him and Mother Mary. This situation has truly taken me to His side and under Mary’s mantle.

So this year, instead of planning for senior activities, we will prepare for the GED and for where he thinks the journey will take him.

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