In some city areas of France, where I live, it’s customary for parents to put their children in a private school between the ages of 12 and 15, because it’s thought that for those grades, many public schools underperform. However, after that, many parents then put their children back into the public school system for the end of high school.

My husband and I decided to follow these customs for our son. I was not aware, however, of a government policy that governs the transitioning of private school children back to the public system. I learned that because my son was attending a private school, he would be eligible to apply for admission only to “leftover” public schools. And by the time I learned this, the private school he had attended had given away his place to someone on their waiting list (they had warned us this would happen if we showed any intention of leaving, and we had been honest about our plans).

At this point I requested the support of a Christian Science practitioner, who prayed with us. I felt calmer as we prayed to see that there could be no injustice, and that we did not need to fear that our son would be in the “wrong” school. However, on the last day of the school year, he, along with five other students in his class who had been through the same process, was informed that he had been accepted by none of the six public schools he had applied for. He had to make three more choices among the six or seven schools that were left over because very few students wanted to go there. (Many were located in the less attractive areas of the city.) Our son was crushed.

I felt calmer as we prayed to see that there could be no injustice, and that we did not need to fear that our son would be in the “wrong” school.

I talked to an administrator in the private school my son used to attend, asking if they would consider taking him back; she was sympathetic, but said that his spot had already been given to another student. That same evening, I went to church. The readings were on gratitude. Just what I needed to hear! And one member even shared an inspiring testimony of how prayer had led him through a challenging situation in finding a school.

As I prayed to hear God’s guidance about this situation, that same evening I felt led to visit the website of a private school I had heard about, which was not far from our home. To my delight it said that they were still accepting applications for my son’s grade. I did all the requested paperwork and dropped the application in the school mailbox the following morning. However, when a few hours later I called to make sure that it had reached them, the secretary was very surprised to hear me. She said their classes had been full for months already, and she kindly wished me luck. So my son applied less than halfheartedly for the three “leftover” schools that were both far from our home and had poor academic records.

I continued to pray to ease my sense of fear about the situation. In the Christian Science Bible Lesson that week there was the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who passed through the fiery furnace unharmed by trusting in God’s protection (see Daniel 3:1-30). To be honest, I had always felt I could not have had so great a faith as these young men! However, I realized that the story could have a figurative meaning, and that just like the three young men in the Bible, neither my son nor we, his parents, had to suffer. No matter what school he attended, he could come out untouched. He could not lose his desire to work, nor to succeed, nor be deprived of good. There was no place where God, Love, would not be also.

Four days later, I got a call from the private school where I had left the application. The secretary said that the head of school wanted to meet our son and us. I knew that this was the normal way of accepting a new student!

The secretary said there had been an opening and that the head of school had thought of us for it. That day I had a feeling of the Red Sea opening in front of us. Any sense of running in circles trying to find a human solution yielded, and I felt as though a great vista of spiritual inspiration was opening up.

I felt as though a great vista of spiritual inspiration was opening up.

Even though I was confident it was a divinely inspired solution, I initially felt a strange resistance to sending our son to the school – so much so that I even visited the public school to which my son had been assigned to see what I thought was the “fiery furnace.” But once I got there, the goodness and earnestness of the parents and the students was obvious. It became clear that the place couldn’t be deprived of good, since God’s grace was at work there. I discovered later that there was a new head of the school who was working hard to reinstate discipline. I was grateful for this evidence that the students there were cared for, too.

Our son started at the private school and fit in right away. His father and I have noticed that he is more full of joy than ever before. There is a feeling of peace and purpose. We are most grateful for this example of God’s love, and for the wonderful guiding and support of Christian Science.