..It's best not to stand in His way. We had a reminder of that lesson over the past few weeks. A couple of Sunday's ago our priest even mentioned this in his homily when he told us a story of how God helped a Saint to accomplish something when everything seemed to be against him. I remember chuckling at the story since it had been awhile since I'd seen that kind of action in our lives. Lately it seemed as if we had been experiencing quite the opposite.
Anyhow, this particular instance has to do with Ms 18 yo and her college living arrangements. We had decided over the summer that she would be commuting because we could see no purpose in burdening her with a big loan just to stay on campus when she could conceivably make the 45 minute commute.
Apparently God did not see it that way. Ever since we'd made that decision at the beginning of summer I'd had an unsettled feeling about it that just wouldn't go away. I tried ignoring it, I tried praying it away, I talked to my husband about it. It would be gone for a few days but it would always come back before long.
My husband kept telling me that I was just worrying about nothing and that once school started and we got into a routine it would be fine. Sound advice...I decided to just wait it out.
Well, the Sunday before classes started, I was driving her car and I noticed that something was wrong with the brakes. Here we were the first week of school scrambling to find a car for her to drive. We were able to borrow one and get the brakes fixed by the weekend.
On Monday morning of the second week she called me and said, "I smelled gas fumes in the car the entire way up here." Okay, fine. Fortunately it wasn't a big problem and only took two days to get fixed.
Somewhere during these two weeks I began praying a novena. My original prayer all summer had been to ask the Lord to bring me peace about the situation. Since that never happened, my novena prayer became "Lord, if it is Your Will for her to commute then please bring me peace. If it is Your Will for her to live on campus, then agitate my husband." Seems to me he was picking the latter.
My husband suggested she check with housing to see what the procedure would be, thinking that maybe come Winter term there might be something available.
Well, I can tell you that in the span of 1 week:
- We found out there were available rooms in the main female freshman dorm and the dorm that the college rents out from the Catholic Church around the corner when they need extra space (remember, this is a Christian college).
- She picked a potential roommate from some profile papers that just so happened to live in the church dorm and met with her to see if they would be compatible. After meeting with her, she determined they would be.
- We found out that it will actually cost her less than we thought to live there.
- Went shopping to purchase the necessary items.
- Packed all her belongings and moved her in.
One week! No glitches, no problems. And to top it off, not only does this building house 40 girls, it also houses the chapel where the church holds Perpetual Adoration. Yes, 2 floors below where she lives is Jesus, truly present in the Most Blessed Sacrament - 24/7!
I know this is a weird picture, but it blows my mind to think that every time she comes into the building and walks past this door, Jesus is directly on the other side on the altar. Like I said, when He wants something done, He doesn't hold anything back.We're still not sure if there is some "big" reason why it is important for her to be there, but I can say that having her settled there has brought that peace I was praying for!
I will be honest, however, and say that, while they are all smiling here, we have been going through the usual "send your child/sibling off to college mourning syndrome". Thank goodness for technology because, in this instance, the ease with which you can contact someone has made her still feel close!In closing, I just want to say "Praised be Jesus Christ...Now and Forever!"
