Decisions Made with More than Luck

     Two years ago today, I was inwardly making a decision that would shape nearly everything about my life today.

     St. Patrick's Day 2016 - the day I woke up in a Mississippi College dorm for the first time, stepped out to the "Lover's Swings," and spent the morning reflecting on my visit thus far.

     I looked up and down at the beautiful, tall trees, the red brick buildings, and the lampposts reminding me of a Narnian winter wonderland. I wondered, "What will campus look like when fall changes the colors of the leaves or when snow covers each individual blade of grass?"

     My first year of college was dramatically impacted by that one day. One day of tours and stories, of falling in love with a place, and of setting off on a destiny I didn't know I had.

     Luckily, I never looked back.

~

     I remembered to wear green that St. Patrick's Day. How many things seem important in high school! They fade away when the big decisions come. And I had a huge one in front of me as I stared down the hillside at more dormitories and parking lots.

     Where might I go to college?

     Where should I go to college?

     Where do I go to college?

     It's a question that looms larger every time you look at it. It becomes more critically important the more times people ask you about it. It is the question that threatens to send you over the line between sanity and insanity during senior year.

     Unfortunately, there is a very real reason that this question holds so much weight: it determines so much of your future, including who you meet, where you live, how much you see your family, what you study, how much debt you go into, and what job you will be able to get after college.

     Fortunately, IT DOES NOT MATTER WHERE YOU GO TO COLLEGE.

     God is the One directing your steps, so follow where He directs you with funds or friends. He will provide for you, protect you, and bless you more abundantly than you can imagine if you trust His will. He will send hardships too, even if you are following Him. Because, you see, hardships are where we grow big and strong like those tall trees on campus.

     There is no luck involved in the college decision for those who fear and follow the Lord.

     There is only asking for God's will to be accomplished in your life and bold trust.

     So, dear, will you trust the One who made you to put you in your new school? It may even require you moving to a new place. It may even require you transferring or going to grad school or getting a work-study job.

     Are you ready for that adventure?

     Because, dear one, His adventures are adventures of Providence.

~Madeline