emotional day

i'm not even sure i can recount it. but here goes.

at 8:00 a.m. matt opened his computer to find that duke had responded. with our hearts pounding we FINALLY opened up the letter. it took a lot of coaxing to get him to even open it. 'were sorry to inform you' were the only words we needed to see. we both sat there, on the floor, hearing curious george in the background, and were stunned. a no. it felt weird to be on the other side of it. it felt weird to have a door closed. while we always knew it was a long shot, i think i always thought it would happen.

then the long road of trying to trust the Lord. trust and not despair. sounds dramatic. but it's been what we've been working for, for so long. and the first letter out the gate to be a no. made us think.

so matt goes about his day. thankfully he had car stuff to do. he didn't have to go and start studying. a distraction, something nice. or so we thought. the car didn't pass smog, repairing costing a fortune. but 10:00 we were thinking that surviving the day was going to be hard.

matt's cell phone rings, it's a weird number he doesn't recognize. he doesn't pick up...they dont' leave a message. after much convincing he calls the number just to say 'i had a missed call.'

it was wheaton. they had tried to send him an email and it was returned. they were sending him an email to invite him to the next stage...to come and interview with them for a spot. i could tell in his eyes. i grab isaiah, squeeze him hard. matt gets off the phone and we cry. overwhelmed with God's goodness. in timing, in opportunity. God is good to us. even the order in which we got things today.

they have assured us they were sending an email immediately. we open up the computer to find a letter, inviting matt to come interview...but it wasn't wheaton. it was southern! 'this is not an acceptance, space is limited'... oh, southern isn't for sure. but did he hear the lady on the phone wrong? was she from southern instead?

minutes later another email pops through, wheaton. in black and white. they've asked 15 students to come and interview for the positions open this year. matt will be one of them.

travel arrangements are being made. schedules are being adjusted. wheaton interviews first, a week later southern. add 2 birthdays and that makes for a full february.

trinity is the only school we did not hear from today...but i guess i haven't checked the mail yet.