college!?

Hey friends! I'ts been forever, but life has honestly been so hectic recently ... but guess what?!?! IT'S FINALLY SUMMER! There have been so many things that have come to mind lately that I have wanted to write about or share and I wish I had all the time in the world to do so! One thing I have wanted to post about for quite some time now though is the craziness of how I came to make my college decision and everything that went along with that, so here it is!

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Next year I have decided to attend Dallas Baptist University in (you guessed it!) Texas! I seriously am unable to contain my excitement & have felt such an overwhelming sense of peace, comfort, and reassurance throughout the entire process! The Lord has reveled to me in so many ways that this is exactly where He had planned for me to end up and knowing that and feeling confident in my decision has been such a wonderful thing to experience.

Okay where to start! Let’s rewind back to a little less than 2 months ago when I had absolutely 0 zip nooo idea where I was going to be going in the fall. Me being me, I applied to 10 schools (I know a little crazy) and all of them early action as well, because I thought I was going to be making a decision months and months before this! That was my plan and I wanted to know where I was going as soon as possible because I’m not a fan of waiting or having to live in the unknown, but let me just tell ya - Jesus had a completely different plan in store for me!!! I honestly thought I would decide around Christmas time and I did know most of the schools I was accepted to by that time, but in the end, I didn’t end up deciding until a few days before decision day (May 1st)!!! I was one of my last friends to make a decision and it was crazy and difficult for me because I really thought I was going to have this whole situation figured out way in advance.

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Sidenote::: I’m laughing to myself right now because as I’m writing this of course the song “Life Changes” by Thomas Rhett comes on and I noticed it was playing right as I heard the lyric:

“You never know whats gonna happen, you make your plans then you hear God laughing”

Try telling me that’s not a coincidence! That isn’t the first time I’ve heard that line of the song and thought to myself how real and true it is and specifically even in what I’m sharing right now! I thought I had such a perfect plan for where I was going to end up in the next year and I had forgotten that the plan I thought I had made for myself might possibly be different than the even better and more beautifully designed plan the Lord already had in store for me. I finally (after a very long long time) discovered I had nothing to worry or stress about, but simply needed to accept that God would be guiding me in this decision and all I needed to do was be okay with the timing and acknowledge that when the right time came to make a decision-it would be the right time! I’ve shared before how I’m the type of person who is always going-going-going and I enjoy the busyness of life, but something else I realized in this process was that this entire experience was also the Lord showing me that it’s okay to not always have it all together and learn how to sit in the unknown and be content with that.

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So anyways, beginning of April I had visited all of my schools I had applied to/been accepted to except for Belmont (in Nashville) and Dallas Baptist. My mom and I very last minute booked flights to both, which had never been the plan, but a few things ended up happening (another 2 incredible stories that are so crazy good) and next thing we knew we we’re visiting DBU one weekend and Belmont the next!

Both of these schools had always been 2 out of a few of my top options and I honestly didn’t know much about either! Looking back at both visits and other things that had happened I feel like it was so clear and obvious all along that DBU was the right place for me, but I didn’t realize all these little things that started to piece together until after I had finally made my decision.

The week before we had to make a decision I was feeling super overwhelmed because I had absolutely no idea how I was going to end up deciding. I remember one night making my parents sit down with me and telling them we we’re going to make a decision that night & wellll... that didn’t exactly happen. I remember finally giving up after realizing I wasn’t going to come to a conclusion that night and was pushing myself too hard to make a decision. I went to bed so frustrated and confused as to why I couldn’t just decide. I ended up spending some time with Jesus the next morning and felt so much peace seriously poured over me. I realized that I wasn’t going to be able to make a decision right then and there and even though I was soon starting to run out of time I was at some point going to make a decision and it would be the right one.

And then guess what!!! The day after that I decided! I was at my church leaders’ house that morning and we were all praying for a few different things and I couldn’t help but think of college in that moment. The Lord spoke to me so clearly and I suddenly knew that DBU was going to be the perfect place for me. I remember sitting there as I was listening to other people praying out loud and the very few doubts I had had about the school or things that I had felt worried about, the Lord spoke through the words of others and drove all those doubts and fears away making it that much more clear to me that this really was the right decision and everything would be taken care of by Him. After I left I got in the car with my friend, told her immediately, we celebrated a lot:), and then I called my parents to tell them. It was during this time that I began to realize how obvious it was all along. I started to think about different things I had been worried about or praying about, for example financially how I was going to afford college, and I didn’t realize until after I had decided how many of these doubts God had removed, instead filling me with so much peace and reminding me how much He is in control over everything. To say the least, I was ecstatic about my decision and knew it was definitely the right one.

I began writing this post flying back from Dallas, coming home from orientation, and as I had hoped, the Lord continued to confirm that this was where I was supposed to be in so many ways and for so many reasons. I left feeling so happy and thankful that that was where God led me to spend the next 4 years of my life. Everything that happened during my time there was like the final final stamp checking off and showing that everything was so meant to be and going to be just right.

I’m beyond thankful for how this whole process ended up going and now looking back on it I think it’s crazy to see all the different ways in which the Lord used this process to teach me, reassure me, and learn to love Him and trust him to a capacity I had never reached before.

Thanks for letting me share what ended up being a longgg story (lol), but I just think it’s so awesome sharing the ways we all see the Lord moving and working in our lives. He is so alive and so powerful and those things are sometimes often forgotten, but its experiences like this that remind me how wonderful and providing He is and I can’t help, but want to share these things with y’all - so thanks for letting me:)

xoxo, b.

enjoy this pretty picture of the view overlooking the lake at DBU;)