Journey to The City of Apples

Matt 6:34  "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." 

Tuesday morning we picked up Brooke at 7am to start her journey to The City of Apples. She was a bundle of nerves until we go a good ways down the road. I brought her iPOD with me so she could listen to her music along the way to help pass the time. I knew it was going to be a long drive.
In my research about "Apple City", I learned that it was once the Apple Capital of Texas.  Not so sure they are now but that was interesting fact #1.  Our drive in seemed to take forever.  Scott wanted to take shortcuts and the scenic route to avoid regular morning Houston traffic.  After about six stops along the way, we finally made it there.  Once we arrived, we met with her case manager who took us on a tour of the grounds and to meet her new "House Parents." They seemed okay, kinda young but all right, I guess. They moved to "Apple City" from Illinois about two years ago and are acclimating to Texas pretty well.  There are about 5 other girls in the house, two are siblings. Brooke has a roommate, she is 13.

Today Brooke began her 30 day stabilization period (which means probation) and she can have no contact with family/friends other than sending/receiving unlimited amounts of letters.  She asked that I not give her address to "strangers," people she doesn't know, but I have a feeling she is going to welcome any mail she can get. She may not write you back if she doesn't know who you are, but that is one request I am going to have to ignore. 

Overall Brooke was in very good spirits most of the day. Scott asked 199 questions while we were there so Brooke got to hear a lot about the program (which she knew NOTHING about) before we even left the property. She didn't know she was going to "Apple City" until the night before she was to leave.  This was the plan all week.  We didn't want her to run away, so we didn't tell her.

While on campus, Brooke was smiling and laughing and talking with everyone. The only two or three tears she shed were during a discussion about the new school dress code. She was told she had to have "natural" hair color only. Brooke LOVES hair dye and her hair is currently Auburn and Black. It looks good but the principal may have her dye it all one "natural" color. She cried! Other than that the rest of the discussion about school only made her laugh. Here are some of the funniest parts...

Her new high school is a 1A school. Approximately 120 students total. That's 7-12 grade combined! She'll be in a classroom of maybe 12-16 kids. Very few electives. The staff laughed when she asked if she could still take cosmetology. My favorite part was when they told her the school only had ONE school bus and the bus driver is the Principal...LOL!!


Jer 29:11  "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

You know, we have to find something to make us laugh and be silly about in this whole process or we would all be a basket case. Everyone's prayers have created a unspeakable peace over this entire journey for all of us. As much as I wanted Brooke to know how hard this decision was AS A PARENT for us to make, it was not as difficult with God on our side. He definitely led us through every step of the way from the very beginning. I made a point to take Brooke aside yesterday to let her know how many "God moments" we had along the way that helped us put all this into place for her. Other than God, there are lots of people we have to thank for their help along the way in making this possible.  There were an amazing number of things that happened completely out of the norm that were proof that this IS God's plan. His timing is perfect, always!

Eph. 4-10  "But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."