Should I just call this the Andrew journal? :)

It seems like I update on him most often...maybe I should change the title of our family's blog.  :)  Seriously, though, I do have an update on him as well as one on Savannah.

Tomorrow is Savannah's archery tournament.  Remember the one I mentioned a couple of weeks ago?  Well, she made it!  They leave in the morning and won't be back til late tomorrow evening (8 or 9pm).  She is soooo excited and I'm very excited for her!  Her best bud from school is going too, so they ought to have a great day.

About Andrew--- today his principal called me at work.  She was at a loss for what to do with him.  She said the cafeteria ladies called her to the cafeteria because they had an unusual circumstance.  That unusual circumstance turned out to be Andrew.  He was sitting on the floor near the back of the cafeteria, almost catatonic.  He was just staring off into space, wouldn't make eye contact, wouldn't speak....they didn't know what to do with him, so they called her.  She said she sat on the ground next to him for a while, trying to coax him to talk to her.  She finally got a couple of nods out of him, but he still wouldn't utter a word.  She asked him if she could call one of us for him.  When she mentioned Larry, he finally mumbled a few words-- "He's in Oklahoma."  That was the last thing (& only thing!) he said.  She said that made her wonder if he was worried about Larry or was nervous that he wouldn't come back or might get hurt or whatever.  She got him to her office somehow---I'm not sure if she picked him up & carried him or if he walked on his own.  She called me from the office & asked me what she should do.  I was stunned at the situation & I wasn't sure what to tell her.  Umm....uhhh....

She put the phone to his ear for me to talk to him.  I kept waiting for him to get on the phone, not sure if she was having to talk him into it or what...and then I heard him breathing, so I knew he was there.  I started talking to him, asking him if he was ok, asking him what was going on, why he wouldn't talk, etc.  He never spoke.  The principal got back on the phone & said he had nodded his head a couple of times, but since he never spoke, I wasn't even sure if he ever heard anything I said.

She offered to let him sit in her office for a little while to do...well, whatever it was he wasdoing.  She said she'd try to get the counselor or one of his teachers to come talk with him, too.  It was about 12:30 at the time, so I told her to let me know if nothing changed by 1:00.  If it didn't, I would come up to talk to him or take him home or whatever.

In my mind, I was panicked because I was picturing myself checking him into the local psychiatric hospital tonight alone (since Larry's out of town).  I called Larry & asked him what I should do.  He offered to turn around & head home (he was nearly to Oklahoma by then), but I told him to hold off and wait until I knew more about what was going on.  He told me to call him as soon as I knew something & that he'd spend his time praying til then.

Well.....I never heard back from the principal & when he stepped off the day care bus, I was standing there waiting.  He was smiling & talking & carrying on like usual by then.  I have no idea when it changed or what happened today (becaue I never could get anything out of him tonight), but he seems OK now.

I've emailed his principal tonight to let her know he's alright now.  As it turns out, she let him sit in her office the rest of the afternoon & read books.  That was great for Andrew so that he could take a break from reality & get some (apparently) much needed space.  However, now I'm concerned that he might use this as a way to get out of class later on.  Ya know?  "Hey, that worked before...I think I'll try it again."

Please keep praying for Andrew.  He is such a sweet boy.  I KNOW that God has a big plan for him and I refuse to let go of my grip on him.  He's going to make a mighty man of God out of his sweet kid and Satan is trying sooooooooo hard to drag him off to the pits.  Larry & I are determined to keep our heels dug in and carry him before the throne every day.  Usually, these breakdowns & rages are all "coincidentally" on the same day that some 'big thing' happened.  We usually don't make the connection til later, but it's almost always a spiritual battle.  I'm curious to see what happened today.