In A Bizarre Turn Of Events...

By Mallory

“In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9, NIV)

You know how the plot of a good story in literature (or movies, I guess) seems to work out just so? As intricate as the plot is, the author manages to get the timing perfect. In the end, the whole story makes sense and it all ends in this perfect cadence.

Sometimes I wonder if our lives are kind of like that.

I’m not sure how I ended up at Wheaton College. First of all, it wasn’t a school I wanted to even go to. At all. (Looking back, I don’t know why.) Wheaton College, in the briefest summary possible, is a small (2500 students), non-denominational Christian, liberal arts college that’s about 780 miles away from home. More often than not, this feels like 780 thousand miles away from home. During my first year of school, I was part of Wheaton’s Conservatory of Music, or, as it is annoyingly but affectionately known, the Conserve.

I probably chose to go to college where I did for the wrong reasons. For example, one of those reasons was to get as geographically far away from high school as possible. I don’t think I even realized I was doing it at the time... but looking back, I think I was. But truthfully, being far away from home has been the only BAD thing about college. I guess my plan eventually came back to bite me.

Then I changed my major. Although almost everybody in college changes or alters their major, for me this was a really hard transition. Because of an unmanageable performance injury and a futile round of physical therapy, I was strongly encouraged to leave the music program and pursue another career. The mix of physical pain, confusion, and absolute shock really threw me for a loop. I don’t think I would have ever seen this coming when I planned to study music, but how would anyone?

So I decided to change my major, and I went back to Wheaton for a second year an undecided major, probably as clueless and overwhelmed as the new freshmen. I almost immediately lost everything I had in common with 99% of my old music major friends.

And somehow, as lazy a Christian as I often am, God totally took care of me in this situation. Everything kind of fell into place when I got back to school: I found new extracurriculars that were pretty much as all-consuming as being in a conservatory of music. I grew really close to some amazing friends. I declared a major halfway into the fall semester. I found I was less stressed out and worried when I wasn’t a music major.

Yeah, my plan (go to a far-away school, be a music major) didn’t work at all. And I don’t think there was something inherently sinful about the old plan, and it was REALLY hard to transition from old plan to new plan, and I’m not even entirely sure what the new plan is.... But GOD is in charge of the new plan and, even though this might not have the right theological nuance, I think He’s had this worked out for me all along.

Here’s an example: A lot of Conservatory students at my school tend to be pretty close-knit with each other and no one else. During freshman year, there were no other freshman music majors living on my floor, while most of the other music majors lived near each other. Because of this, I had to start making friends outside of the music program. And what a blessing that turned out to be... Now I’m living in an apartment with some of those same friends and I’m SO thankful I got to know them. If I had been completely engulfed in the Conservatory’s little bubble, I would have felt so lost when it was time to leave. But God was working out the details before I even knew there was a change of plans.

Here’s another one: The actual college has a separate and more rigorous admissions process than the music school. And as much as I hate to say it, I’m pretty confident I wouldn’t have been accepted if I hadn’t kind of sneaked in through the music program. Because I was already a student, it was easy to transfer into another program. And at this point I’m just thankful to be here at all.

So short-term, things have been good. Long-term is scarier. Again, my whole plan kind of vanished. And I kind of drove all the way out here to be a music major and that didn’t exactly work out. But it was almost good to have the old plan wiped out so God could write the new one. I know God is working in my life and I can put my trust in Him to lead me in the right direction. And I know that God led me to Wheaton. While I’m not entirely sure why I’m here yet, I do know that He’s really blessed my time here.

So it’s August and I’ve just moved back to Illinois (into my first apartment) to start my third year at school. I don’t know what twists and turns are going to happen next, and that’s still kind of scary. Now this isn’t exactly like Frodo and Sam climbing Mt. Doom or whatever; my life, despite the way I act sometimes, is not an epic saga. But I know the story of my life needs to glorify God. Thankfully, He’s head writer this time.

Comments

[Ian]

Amen!