So, this week I said I was going to talk to the manly readers of this blog. I have some great ideas, but in light of recent events I want to write about something else.
Don't worry guys, you'll get your turn soon enough, but the story I have for you today shouldn't be kept to myself. I give glory to God in everything that has happened, and man, does He deserve it!
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Throughout my entire life, I believe God has been teaching me patience. There are so many situations and life circumstances I could list off to you that showed me the value of patience. But as for this story, it tells of God's unfailing faithfulness and how He ALWAYS provides.
Before I get going, I want to thank all of my wonderful, amazing, extravagant, completely legit, and AWESOME friends. I've only known my "sophomore friends" for less than 5 months, but I feel like they are my home away from home, my family. I have relationships within this group that I know will last for a lifetime.
I love you guys. :)
Anyway, back to my story. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Then, I was born. A couple years later I decided to attend a wonderful school: Oklahoma Baptist University. Now, what you have to understand is that this school is not cheap, by any means. So, the only way I was able to attend (even with the scholarships I got) was to work about 15-20 hours a week. Also, my mother had to find another job that could give her more hours.
I wasn't even in Shawnee for more than 2 hours when a job opportunity opened up. When I got to OBU, I knew I had to start applying for jobs, but I had no idea where to start. My parents and I decided to go Mazzio's Pizza for lunch (our favorite pizza place here in Oklahoma). We happened to have the head manager take our order and we started joking around about how I needed to find a job. Next thing I know, she's handing me a job application while I chomp down on my 24 meat pizza (exaggeration I know, but it was alot of meat). I fill it out and give her a call about a week later and discover that she had already planned to hire me. BEFORE I even handed in my application, before I even had a chance to do an interview, she gave me a job.
God provides.
I started getting into the flow of things at the beginning of the semester, balancing friends, school and work. Everything was great! Like I mentioned before I needed about 15-20 hours a week to cover the cost of the semester, but I was only getting about 10. Not what I wanted, but at least something. It made it tough, but doable. Then one day I get a call from my parents saying that my mother hasn't found a job yet and it's going to be tight, considering we also have to pay for my brother and sister's tuition (They attend a private high school). My heart sank a little bit when she told me she hadn't found employment, but then it soared. She told me that some anonymous donor had payed off both my brother's and my sister's tuition through the end of the year. Yes, 4 months worth of tuition done, payed for, taken care of.
God provides.
Then along came a little birdie called Brigadoon. This was the Fall production here on campus for the theater and music departments. I had not planned on auditioning because I knew there were night practices and I needed to work, but for some reason I pulled myself into it. I didn't even have to try out and I ended up singing bass for the chorus. Theater has been a huge part of my life, so I was thrilled to be apart of collegiate drama. However, I had not realized the MASSIVE time commitment. Long story short, because of Brigadoon, I ended up only being able to work a measly 6 hours a week at Mazzio's.
This is where the story takes a turn. My mother still had not found a job, so hope was starting to dwindle and my employment at Mazzio's was less than satisfactory. Because of this, we still owed $1800 dollars at the end of 2011. It may not seem like alot to some, but this figure was massive considering our situation. The best we could conjure up was around $400.
Now, here at OBU, freshmen are required to take a 3 week term called J-term where you take just one or two classes. Since they were offering a free course, I was able to get hold releases on my account and enroll. This gave us 3 more weeks to pay off the sum, which was an incredible opportunity to have more time.
God provides.
Finally, I come to the part of the story where God just blows me away through what He does. As J-term started my family knew I needed to work. Mazzio's couldn't give me any hours. We were at a loss at what to do. There was a gleam of hope because the financial aid adviser told us of a loan for $4000 we could apply for, which would be more than enough to cover the cost. So, we applied for it and waited. We waited and waited and waited to hear if we had been accepted. Six days before I HAD to enroll or go home, we got the letter that we had been rejected. Reality struck. I was going home. I would not be returning to OBU for the spring semester. I was driving back with Rachel from Oklahoma City when my mother called, and I was devastated. How could I leave my home? How could I leave my family? I would most likely have been back for the next Fall semester, but 7 months is a long time to be away from loved ones.
I didn't know what to do except pray, pleading with God in my room to let me stay, thinking of every excuse I could as to why I needed to stay. I asked my friends here and back home to start praying for me as well, and then the completely unexpected happened. Not 5 hours after I had got the news, I had offers by two of my friends to loan me the money I needed to enroll. I just started crying. They are poor college students too. If I wasn't able to pay them back, they wouldn't be able to return in the Fall. THAT, readers, is what family does, and I am so thankful for them. That they would be willing to put up that kind of sum just so I could stay here at OBU........Incredible.
God provides.
But my story doesn't stop there! The next day (today actually), I went and talked with the financial adviser one last time to see if there was anything I could do so my friends didn't have to sacrifice for me. Something about me: I have a VERY tough time asking for financial help. I always pay for other people's food, and have never asked to borrow money. So going up to the office with a heavy heart knowing I had to be honest about my situation was tough, but I had to do it. God came through again. Turns out, the loan we applied for had an asterisk. If my parents were rejected for the loan, that meant I could get the same amount ($4000) in un-subsidized loans. This meant that I could split the amount, pay off my account and then have more payed off next semester! On top of that, an anonymous donor payed off my meal plan and housing for J-term! If there ever was doubt that God wanted me here at OBU, it's gone now, completely.
God provides. Always.
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I know this is a long read, but it's hopefully worth it because it's awesome. I love that word by the way. Awesome. So, if you ever feel like God is giving up on you, don't, because he WILL pull through, I guarantee it.
So remember, God provides. Keep smiling!
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