I wonder if it’s a sin to say that God is annoying.
That is not to suggest that God is annoying in HIs usual sense. But if you have been reading consistently the things I have written for you up until now, you are getting the distinct impression that I can’t make up my mind, or that my future will keep changing unpredictably. In fact, you have just decided—yes, you, I hear you thinking!—that you are tired of reading the back-and-forth, maybe-maybe-not story of me trying to figure out my future.
And now, you probably expect me to say I’ve figured it out. No more questions about the future. Well, sorry. You may as well go ahead and stop reading, because I am not going to say any of that. I still can’t promise that what I say today will be true tomorrow.
You’re still reading? Awesome! Let’s begin.
I left off last time by saying that I needed to discuss with my parents the decision to go online for the first year at Bryan, giving myself time and mindspace to think about what I really wanted without taking the hazardous gap year. My state and federal aid would cover these costs, plus a little extra that I could use for miscellaneous educational fees and related costs such as gas.
The neat thing about studying online was this one little loophole where I could still participate in campus life as an online student. I couldn’t live in the dorms, of course, but transportation could probably be arranged with another commuting student from my area. Basically, I was going into the best of both worlds.
You might remember back when this entire chaos first began, I had come to a decision that I would keep applying to those scholarships because I wanted to make sure I gave God every chance. You can read more about this in an earlier issue.
This time, I made the decision that if God wanted me somewhere, He would make a way to get me there. Meanwhile, I made a decision that would allow me to wait and listen to His guidance while still moving in a generally forward direction.
In the first instance, I got the miracle call an hour or two later. And while that solution was not the final one, it was the one that motivated me and kept me from giving up.
This time, I got the text the following morning: What days are you on campus? I have an idea I want to run by you and your mom. Would Wednesday work?
A lot of under-the-radar communication had been going on because of another problem that was only partially related, and I had recently lost control of a circular chain of communication. This message, however, was at least partially sparked by the problem I was facing.
I had first communicated this problem to a very dear friend, but he was more reactive to it than I was. He also realized before I did that the problem could and probably would grow into a very serious one if it went unhandled. So, like any good friend, he started working to solve it for me.
Thankfully, the circle that he kicked into motion was small enough that the accuracy of the issue being communicated was not compromised. And by the time the circle came back around to me, the person it ended with was able to create a perfect solution without aggravating the problem or creating a new one.
I know that’s all very vague, and I might explain more someday.
Anyway, the solution that was found not only solves the original problem, but it actually erases it at its source. So, as of now, my plan is as follows.
On May 8, 2023, I am moving from my lifelong home in Chattanooga to Dayton, Tennessee. There, I will work between 35 and 40 hours a week at Bryan College as a contact ambassador, I believe it’s called. Basically, I will be Bryan College’s first impression on many of the potential students I communicate with.
While I’m doing this, I will be living in the Bryan College Townhouses at a rent of $150 a month, where I will have much of the freedom and environment of a free, working-class adult, as well as between 20 and 30 people living in the townhouse community with me, and a roommate.
The money I save from this, plus the scholarships from the Bryan College Martial Arts Academy, the pay from my college work-study, and all of the other scholarships, awards, and grants that I am eligible for, will come close to covering my academic school year if not completely covering it. This means that I won’t have to go online. In fact, I have reasonable confidence, shared with my advisors and parents, that I am now on a stable path to successfully completing the four years that I am about to begin this fall as a full-time traditional student at Bryan College.