Thank You God for child care!

I am very excited and just a little bit nervous. BSF starts back up tomorrow and until today we had been unable to find a babysitter for Samuel who is too young for their children's program. Last year he spent time with a succession of babysitters and none of them were suitable for this year. I could just go to an evening BSF class, which is a lot closer and on a night when Jeff is home, but we really want Joshua, Anna and Abigail to be able to go to the pre-school level children's program, which is only offered during day BSF classes. They learn a lot, and it offers a structured social environment where they can experience non-parental authority and spend time with peers who are not part of their usual circle of friends. But what to do with Sam while we're all at BSF? I've been praying for the last month for a solution to this dilemma.

This morning I took the kids to the local park to play with Joshua's birthday rocket and then we walked past the Mercy Child Daycare Centre to go home. I walked in, asked a lady if there was any chance of a place for Samuel and - amazingly - she said, "Yes, actually we do have a place in our babies room for 0 to 2 year olds on Wednesdays. When would you like him to start?" You could have blown me over with a feather! This was the first and only child care place I had inquired at, and the media are constantly saying that child care services are at an absolute premium all over Australia. I should even be able to get the federal child care rebate to help with fees. God truly went in front of me as I walked through Mercy's door.

Now I just have to get over the shock of having a child in formal child care. None of my kids has ever been in formal child care before. Well, the closest was the creche at Theological College. I was filled with trepidation at the thought, but having things fall into place this easily does give me peace of mind that it is the right solution.