God Answers Prayer

I had an important interview a couple weeks ago. It was for graduate school--for a Doctorate of Psychology (PsyD) program to start this fall. The interview lasted all day and I had the opportunity to meet other PsyD candidates. We toured the campus and the health clinic, sat in on some classes, had breakfast and lunch, had a coffee hour with current students, and had individual interviews--not in that order. I was pretty nervous and when I get nervous, I talk fast and don't feel like I think straight. So, there were definitely questions in my individual interview that I didn't think I answered very well. The rest of the day was fun, though. At the end of the day, one of the professors led a short devotional and his ultimate message was this, "Pray for the admissions committee. We are praying for you and trusting that God will bring together the right group of students for next year's group. You are all qualified to come. If it is God's will that you are here, you will be here." At that moment, all of my worries of not performing well enough in my interview faded.

The next day, I left to go to the coast for a weekend retreat with a friend's church. It was well-timed for me, not that they had specifically planned it that way. It was the perfect time to get away from my busy life. On Sunday morning, I walked out to the beach since I had only seen it in the dark up to that point in the weekend...we had some sessions scheduled at different times, but we had been able to take walks on the beach after dark--the beach is quite mysterious after dark! Anyway, on Sunday morning, it was raining a little, but it wasn't far and I love the ocean. When I got there, God gave me a rainbow. It was the brightest rainbow I had ever seen and I do believe it is only the second time I have ever seen a complete one--where both ends stretch to the ground. I had my camera so I took pictures, but they just don't do it justice.

DS stayed home with DH for the weekend. It was the longest I have been away since he was born. It was a little hard. But, when I called home on Saturday morning, DH put me on speakerphone and this is what I heard:

"Noah, who's on the phone?"
"Daddy!"
"No, I'm Daddy. Who's on the phone?"
"Daddy!"
"No, I'm Daddy! Who's on the phone?
"Mommy! Hi!"
"That's right. That's Mommy."
"Bye!"

Apparently, they were doing just fine without me. :)

The next couple weeks I waited...for the ultimate phone call, the one that would offer me a spot in the program for the fall. I prayed a lot. And, I would be lying if I didn't say that with each day that passed and I didn't receive the call I got a little more discouraged. "Maybe it isn't God's will for me this year after all," I began to wonder. About three days ago, I had a heart-to-heart chat with God, once again, asking for an answer and I heard, "YES!" then silence. "Um, God, was that you?" I questioned. Thankfully, he is so patient and puts up with my incessant ridiculousness. First I ask for an answer, then I get an answer, then I question the answer....

Well, today I got the call!! Mike had come home for lunch and was sitting at the table when my phone rang. Not a minute before, I had been thinking, "Will today be the day?" And when the phone rang, I thought, "Well, it can't be Mike calling me this time because he is sitting at the table eating lunch." Sure enough, it was the admissions office. First, she asked me about my phone number that she had in the system. Apparently, my Pennsylvania number that I haven't had for over a year was still listed as my preferred number. She did a great job at making me think that was the only reason she was calling. I think she was enjoying keeping me in suspense. Then, she said, "Well, I also was calling to let you know that the admissions committee has reviewed your application and they would like to offer you a position in the program to begin this fall..." And the sun is shining brightly today...what a beautiful day this is!!!

Now, all I have to do is send them a letter to accept the offer and pay a $500 deposit to confirm my acceptance. I suppose that will be one of my easier assignments that I will have in the next five years... :)