Tomorrow is the day. Tomorrow school starts for the younger kids. First day in a new school system/district. I was impressed at meeting the teacher yesterday. She's very kind and answered everything I asked with a smile. I don't have to buy school supplies either, because the district provides them. Amazing! I know. (MashaAllah)

Tomorrow is also an important court date. One that I can't attend because I'll be with the young'uns for school, which is 50 miles away. Sigh. I was going to say that I've sent up my prayers. You know, like it's a done deal? But moms never stop praying for their children. Moms always wish them well and try to catch them when they fall. We lecture, too, trying to explain exactly what things make you fall the hardest and hurt the worst. The kids don't always listen. And we know they won't, because we didn't always listen either. But we are compelled to say the things that we hope may help them, and give them cause to ponder and think. Above all things, we want them to think. I didn't always think. I do love that I can see that now. Not thinking about things and their consequenses have given me many hilarious memories of my own ignorance. Even the dumbest things I did, things that caused me grief at the time, are for the most part something to smile about now.

I never used to wear shoes. Mom and Dad always told me to wear them, or I'd cut my feet or step on something painful. Out the door I'd go, barefooted. Not long afterwards, I'd come in, usually with a bleeding stubbed toe. 'Yep" they'd say. "So, you stubbed your toe?" Nothing else, just pointing out the obvious. I'd get doctored, and I learned to put on shoes. Today I know that not wearing my shoes yesterday caused a stubbed toe. Tomorrow I'll wear shoes. Tomorrow I'll know better. So even if it hurts my toe to wear that shoe, I'm going to wear it. It'll be way better than a stub on top of a stub. I'll go through it, it'll hurt, I will eventually heal. I determined that tomorrow I'll be the smartest person, with my shoes on.
  

Sometimes, in life, we have to go through something to learn from it. We're too hard headed to look at the experiences of others and come through with the values that they have. In the best scenarios, it's not something dreaful; other times it is. When those times come around, people look to different things to get them through. Faith, good luck, money, knowing someone who can aid, are all things that help. For me, it's faith. Faith in my own knowledge that even the worst situations in life have something to offer, if I'll only accept it. Faith that God plans, and we plan, and God is the best planner. We're not created to see into tomorrow. We're created in a manner that pushes us to learn from yesterday. Faith doesn't always stop bad things from happening. But, faith gets you through them when they do. For those that might say that if faith doesn't always stop bad things from happening, then it's not reliable enough to depend on, I have this to say: Not everything you consider bad will eventually end up having no benefit to you.