Claire
Claire
“
God’s timing is perfect!
It’s difficult to describe how miserable my autistic son was at Upper School. He was badly bullied which led to him becoming unwell and an exclusion from school followed: not because he had done anything wrong, but because of regular epileptic seizures that they wouldn’t accept were due to stress. As a special-needs student, he wasn’t expected to achieve anything there, and he knew they didn’t really want him.
One morning, he told me about a dream he’d had, in which he felt he was walking through dark clouds, but he could see a bright light in the distance. He knew if he kept walking straight ahead, he would reach the light. When he told me, I cried, seeing this as reassurance from God to keep going, that He was with him.
At that time, I worked in Bedford. It was a promotion from the Luton office I’d worked in since leaving school, which I believed God led me to. I disliked it intensely and more than once wondered if I’d really heard God correctly.
As my son became more distressed and ill, it was clear he couldn’t stay at that Upper School beyond his GCSEs. Through an aunt’s research, he was eventually offered a place at an Independent School, but because it was in another county, funding was problematic. It was recommended he became a boarder and in addition to regular fees, he required special-needs support, which for me amounted to almost £3,000 a term. His place would commence in September 2001.
As a single parent I couldn’t earn enough quickly enough, even if I had no other expenditure. I was made redundant in April 2001, after 27 years, when the Bedford office closed due to company merger.
My son spent three years at his Independent School, funded by my redundancy and some help from good friends and the church we attended. He was voted Head Boy and went on to university.
I spent a miserable 21 months in Bedford, but immediately secured a job in Leighton Buzzard. I later met my future husband during my lunch breaks in Tiddenfoot Swimming Pool, a place I didn’t know existed before I worked in Leighton Buzzard.
Had I stayed at the Luton office, it would have been 18 months before it closed, which would have been too late for my son’s school place. God’s timing is perfect!