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I began in September of 2009 writing about my son’s senior year in high school and the process of getting him into college. I thought some of the things we were experiencing as a family would be helpful to others just starting on this journey. But life crept in, and before I knew it, something unexpected happened. After the Christmas rush, I noticed I had pain in my knee. Knee pain isn’t something uncommon for most of us, but it wouldn’t go away, so I finally went to the doctor. She took x-rays and diagnosed me with a pulled ligament, gave me 6 weeks of physical therapy, some anti-inflammatory meds and sent me on my way. After a few weeks of physical therapy, I wasn’t getting any better, and other joints in my body began to hurt as well. At one point, I couldn’t use my hands. I went back to the doctor, and after several blood tests, I was diagnosed with RA. This was devastating news, but at least I had a diagnosis and could start on a treatment plan. The first medication made me terribly ill, but after changing medicines and going on a gluten free diet, I began to see great improvement. I’m almost back to my old self again, and I even have days where I’m nearly pain-free.

Obviously this was not the way I’d planned to spend my son’s senior year. Our plans are not often God’s plans, but that’s so like Him isn’t it? People spend lifetimes looking for God or trying to figure Him out and determine if He’s real. So He shows up in the places we least expect Him; right in the middle of our storm, instead of keeping up from it. It’s only there He can really show us His comfort, power and love. All the keeping us from hardships in the world can’t replace the lessons learned during a difficult time. He was right there, waiting for me in mine. It wasn’t as if I expected Him to reach down and heal me immediately. That would have been nice, but I did want Him to fix it so I could at least be kind of normal again. I mean, I was a mom of a high school senior. Did He know I had parties to plan and a family to take care of? The timing couldn’t have been worse. But God came; not like some super hero or play station tough guy, but in those moments when I was all alone in bed wondering if I’d be able to get up at all. Those times when I longed to be outside planting my own flowers, but having to sit in a chair and watch my kids do it. He was there. Whispering, talking, listening to my heart, saying, “It’s OK. I’m here. I won’t leave you. Trust me. I’ve got this.”

And He did. In more ways than you can imagine. So, what did I learn during this year when I was going to share how to do something with others? I learned that taking it one day at a time is really all we can do. I learned that the sweetest things in life are not our biggest successes or accomplishments, but moments in the sun with our children. I learned all over the love of a husband who didn’t mind combing out my wet hair for me and putting toothpaste on my toothbrush when I couldn’t do it myself. I also learned that my son was truly a man and more than ready to go off to college because of the way he stepped in and handled things I couldn’t, and that my girls are the most precious gifts any mom could ask for. Would I have liked to learn these things a different way? Yes! But I wouldn’t trade God’s gentle whispers for all the super heroes in the universe.

I could talk all day about the hundreds of little ways He came through for me this year and is still coming through. But I’ve got work to do on books and other projects that just won’t wait. And I’m glad. Glad to be able to sit here and type, smiling at the fact that I can and will go to the grocery store by myself this afternoon. God is good, life is sweet and I’m happy to be in the center of His hand.

On my second installment of senior year advice for parents, I’d like to talk about getting applications in early. Our college financial planner told us how important it was to apply early to colleges for the best scholarships. Of course my main motivation for getting applications in early was to get life back to normal as quickly as possible so we could all start actually enjoying senior year. We finished up in by mid-October, and though it was a lot of work getting it all done that soon, it felt really good.

When the acceptance letters started rolling in a few weeks later, that’s all they were, acceptance letters. Some more personal than others, but nothing in any of them that even hinted at scholarship money or otherwise. Then, to our surprise, we came home from church late last Wednesday night to an envelope from my son’s number one college pick. He’d gotten his acceptance letter from them a few weeks earlier so we knew it wasn’t that. We opened the envelope and were amazed to read that he’d been awarded two scholarships for a total of $8,000, renewable for up to 4 years. We were so excited and so grateful. It made immediate believers out of us that applying early is the way to go.

But it makes sense really. Schools have a certain amount of scholarships available each year. It just makes sense to award them not only based on merit, but also on a “first come, first serve” basis. Colleges are looking for serious students who know what they want to do and where they want to go. Turning in a quality application well before the cut off date speaks volumes to the ones making the decisions about who gets the money.

Once scholarship money is given out, that’s all there is. Financial aid packages and final financial letters come our after FAFSA forms are completed in January, but the dollars that don’t have to be paid back can be awarded well before that date. So, in this sense it really does “pay” to apply early.

Receiving a scholarship doesn’t obligate you to a particular school, but it does make the decision making process so much easier. In our case, it’s confirmation that we’re on the right track as far as his top pick. It gives us one more reason to believe the place he’s already chosen appreciates him for what he’s accomplished in high school. It’s pretty clear he’ll be more than just a number, and that’s what we’re looking for.

So, as you look ahead and make lists of what you need to do as senior year approaches, put “apply early” somewhere near the top. If we weren’t sure how important it was when we started, we certainly are now.