Onward & Upward

Yesterday, I received my acceptance letter to return to University! After an audit was done of the courses I took waaaay back in the '80's, I was told that I only had 3 semesters to go to finish my B.A. degree! Then, after completing a 'professional year' I would have my Bachelors of Education and be a certified Elementary School teacher. I'm so excited to begin this new chapter. It's been incredibly healthy for me to have something positive to focus on and I feel a renewed sense of hope for my future. The catch is...I don't have anywhere near the money I need to go to University. I have applied for every kind of grant, award and bursary known to mankind. I will of course need to get student loans...but that still will not cover the cost. It is a very expensive University and I have no choice but to finish there as I have too many credits to transfer over to anywhere else. (The most I can transfer is 60 and I already have 91. Those extra 31 credits represent an entire year of study that would be lost.) However, my mother did not give me the middle name Faith for nothing! Let me tell you a little story.

Once upon a time, there was a man with a wife and 3 children who became a Christian and wanted to go to Bible School so he could be a Minister. Unfortunately, the Bible School was a couple of thousand miles away and he would have to move his entire family half way across the country to go. He applied anyways and received a letter of acceptance in the mail. He told his wife that he was sure this was what God wanted him to do and she supported her husbands calling. However, there was still the small detail of not having enough money to pay for tuition or living expenses. Still, he knew without a doubt that this was God's purpose for his life. So, on a warm British Columbia August morning, they set out in their old pickup truck, packed carefully with their few earthly treasures and with just enough money to pay for the gas to get to Saskatchewan. The wife packed sandwiches and fruit and homemade cookies and they hit the road powered by faith, motivated by trust and full of the joy of the Lord. It took them 3 days to get to Pambrum Bible College. When they arrived, they went to the Registrar's Office to see if they could make some kind of arrangements to work and pay for College. Well, low and behold, there was a letter waiting for them there. When the man opened the letter enough money to pay for the entire first year of school fell out. He cried and praised God and hugged his tearful wife. Then, the man behind the counter told them that food and lodgings for the entire family had also been taken care of. They moved their belongings into a converted dorm room and headed for class. God continued to provide for them in miraculous ways until the man finished bible school and was an ordained minister. That man was my father and I lived in that converted dorm room with my mother and 2 brothers.

So you see, I have a legacy of faith to continue on. I must believe that if this is what God wants for me, if this is the path I am meant to travel down, then I, Rebecca Faith, will live up to my name and move boldly forward into that great financial unknown! And if I am not to go, I will trust my Father that He has other plans for me. As I crawl under my quilt tonight, I will ask God to provide, then simply trust. I will do my part as best as I can to prepare and find ways, but ultimately, it will be the Lord that will get me to school on time!