The Beginning of an Adventure

The little car pulls into one of the allotted empty slots, purrs into silence, we climb out into the cool morning air. 

I open the hatch, and lug out the bag with my computer and textbooks. It weighs close to one hundred pounds, seems like. 

We gather our things and approach the sleek, modern building, wondering where to go once we enter. This early in the morning, we have seen only a couple of other people on campus; will they be our classmates, or do they work here? 

What will class be like? 

I smile at Hannah as we ride the elevator to the second floor. We are happy we have each other. This will be the first time either of us have had a non-Adventist teacher. Will she teach evolution? Will our faith be challenged? Will the class be hard? How many are in the class? 

We stand on the second floor tile, studying the floor plan, our voices echoing through the empty halls. It's thirty minutes before class starts, so we have time to find the room and be ready. 

Click click click-

I feel like we are almost trespassing as we walk down the hall to room 213. It's dark in there. Reminds me of the college where I used to work. All the chairs quietly wait behind rows of solemn desks. The white board gleams a reflection of the solid wooden podium. A huge poster of the periodic table of the elements decorates one of the professional grey walls. Closed blinds conceal the windows, and I can't resist laying down my burden on a desk to step over and peek through them to the misty outdoors. 

Hannah is wondering if she should go find the financial office, and I'm wondering what the summer will be like. There is no time to go on Hannah's errand, so we wait for class to start. 

The silence is deafening. A lone man waddles past the door and I ask him, "Sir, we are having class here, right?"

It is five minutes before class is supposed to begin and there is no teacher and there are no students but Hannah and I.  

Is this a typical thing for Arkansans to be late? Or are we in the wrong classroom?

The man starts and looks at me with dawning comprehension, "Oh, you're here for A&P 1? I'm sorry; that class was cancelled."

Hannah and I look at each other and I giggle, compulsively. I heave the bag of bricks back onto my shoulder and the man leads us downstairs to speak with a lady who appears to already be dealing with another student who had not been informed of the cancellation. 

"Check your contact information! We called and sent emails to everybody..."

This is obviously not her morning. Hannah and I apologise, more feeling bad for her, and exit the building. A feeling of freedom engulfs us and we laugh at the sheer confusion of the situation. 

What happened?

Neither of us had gotten any notification, obviously. But that was beside the point. 

We had researched where we could take this class, we had spent time and effort to make this work. We had both only committed to half-summer jobs so that we could take this class. 

"I could have worked at camp!" I almost wailed, knowing full well that this class wasn't the only reason I canvassed instead. 

"I could have stayed in Tennessee!" She sighed. 

What happened? 

And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose Romans 8:28

Although it sounds like we should have been or were dreadfully disappointed, we weren't. We sure didn't shed any tears as we wondered, "What do we do now?" 

We are free!! We can do whatever we want to do! 

What do I want to do? 

Hehe, well, there are a few things I have thought about. 

1. Staying home, working out, getting tan, and practicing my neglected musical instruments. (For five weeks?! 0.o)

2. Getting a pilot's license in Hot Springs. (Not worth $10,000 to me right now. Especially since I don't have that much money or any use for flying an airplane other than feeling awesome.) 

3. Going out into the forest and building a  house out of trees. (Much less appealing since the loggers came and demolished sections of the forest.)

4. Working up to running 10 miles at a time. (I would feel awesome, but it won't take the whole day, every day, for five weeks.) 

5. Building a swing. (I might do that, actually, if I can use some of my dad's old climbing rope.)

6. Learning to play l'Isle Joyeuse, by Debussy. (Non of this First Arabesque stuff.) (that would take me all day every day for five weeks, probably, but what is the point? I'm not going to be a concert pianist...) 

7. Figure out why I have only been slowly losing weight for the past few years. (It's probably because of school stress, right? I hope so...) 

I can speculate all I want, but I know that God knows exactly what is going on. He doesn't delight in messing up anyone's life, and He only has the best in mind when He allows circumstances to happen. I'm more delighted than anything at this change of plans, because it pulled the rug out from under me and made me grab God's arm more tightly. 

It's rather exciting to ask for wisdom and wait for Him to point out the next step. 

And while I wait, I will be working out, getting tan, practicing my neglected instruments, and doing whatever else I can to improve my time.