smooth

Well it's my first day as a grad student and I already learned something! Today when I arrived at BC for my first class at 10:00, I learned that my first class is actually at 2:00. So, that's good.
When I was 18 and going away to college for the first time, I arrived at my dorm door a full day early, with a full van and sweaty palms, my parents at my side. My confused RA said "oh. No, tomorrow!" and we turned the van around and headed for home. The next day I arrived to a much livelier-looking campus and tried to pretend the whole thing had never happened.
This afternoon I reckon I'll do the same thing. At least I know which room my class is in- I will look so calm and cool that people will assume I'm a third-year student. And at least when I left my non-class this morning, I got a laugh- only one other student was in there when I went back to retrieve my book bag. He said, "leaving already?" and I said, "yeah, I've had enough..." Always leave 'em laughing.
So this afternoon I'm heading back to my first real class, and I hope it's as least as educational as my first non-class was!

off to school

So my nephews are going off to college this week and next, and I can feel their worries and nerves and excitement through the air all the way from Maine to Massachusetts. I remember how I felt, leaving home to go off to college, the biggest life- change I had experienced up till then. But more than that, I remember walking with young people through this time in their lives as a Youth Minister. The waiting and anxiety of waiting for that envelope to come, tears and disappointment of being rejected or wait-listed by a college, the joy and relief of having been accepted, the fears that their choice of schools would turn out to be a wrong choice... and then, the time coming to actually GO to college.
I don't know how many young people I've seen off to college in my career, but there have been a lot, and one thing that always strikes me is how, like coins dropping only into the slot meant for them, kids end up in the Right Place. So many kids' second choice, "safety" schools, have ended up being just where they should have been all along. If there is ever a time in a young person's life when I've seen the Holy Spirit at work, it's been in choosing colleges. It isn't necessarily an easy transition, or a an instant joy, but somehow it always ends up that kids land where they're meant to.
So I feel confident and excited for the boys even as their confidence may be starting to waver. I know that God has plans for them and knows where they should be. I hope they love college from the moment they step on campus- and I hope they grow closer to God while they're farther away from home.