Back To School?

I don’t know why, but every single time I think about going back to school, I think about the song Adam Sandler sang in Billy Madison as he waited for the school bus on his first day of school. Since I have spent roughly 23 years of my 28-year-old life in school, you can bet that I’ve thought of that song way too much.
Today marks the "purpose" of this trip – taking an essay test and having an interview as the final step in the application process for a Ph.D. from Southern. Prior to the test, we were given a reading list that was two pages long, and a list of six possible essays to study from. On the test day, we were given two questions from the study sheet, and two hours to write on the one of our choice. I was given the one question that I didn’t want to touch with a 10ft. pole, and another that I was moderately comfortable with, wrote for about 1 hour and 50 minutes, and walked out feeling better about my essay than I did walking in.
After this ordeal was over, I couldn’t help but to feel blessed – whether I am accepted to this very competitive program or not, I feel blessed. God has seen me through many trials to come to a place that I never thought (or planned) that I would see. From what I understand, my great grandfather received a little "home" education. Grandfather dropped out of school when the depression started to help make ends meet. My father was the first to finish high school. I was the first to go to college, and earn a masters degree, and now I’m the first to aim for a terminal degree. Honestly, had someone told me about all of this ten years ago, I’d have laughed at them. But God will take you to unexpected places, if only you will let him.
That evening, we stayed on campus and visited with some old friends still living there. We went to the "stairwell," where we lived on campus for three years and introduced everyone to Jack, and got to meet a couple of new babies ourselves. God is doing great things in all of their lives as well, we should all be so thankful for it.