Everyday Miracle Workers

I believe in God, and that He is very involved in our lives. I don't know what you, my reader, believe in. If its one God, a Christian God, a Muslim God, no God, many Gods, a higher power, scientific principles or what. I do believe that there is one absolute truth, I have my thoughts and I think I'm right...but you have yours and you think you're right. I guess we need to walk on faith now and one day we'll know. I do believe that we can all get along, we all deserve freedom to worship how and what we want. We can and should love one another, and that we have a lot to learn from each other.

I want to share an experience I had today. My life is very busy. I have school, work, responsibilities in my local congregation, wedding planning, and this longboard endeavor.  Life is busy, but...I'm not that different from every other college student trying to scratch out a life in this world.

Homework really hit me hard this week. I had a Physics test to take today and I haven't been able to study much. I do enjoy physics but it is challenging. I've been struggling in the tests and recently it has caused me to develop a testing anxiety. This anxiety causes me to do worse.

Earlier I was sitting in a hallway on campus, waiting for my cycling class. My nose was buried in my physics notes as I tried to remember all the rules and equations. I felt fairly prepared. Suddenly, right after this good thought I was hit by fear for the test and I got really nervous. This made me more nervous because I knew being nervous might make me do bad, and so I got more nervous, and it all just spiraled down from there.

I bowed my head down and said a little prayer, asking God that He would take some notice of my little life and take away the anxiety so I could study and test well. A simple prayer for a small request. But I still felt nervous.

Finding a penny is like one little miracle.
Finding a dime is like ten wrapped into one!

A kid next to me noticed my book and asked me if I had taken the test. I said yes and although I wanted to study and not talk, I asked him if he was in the class. He was and had just taken the test. He didn't tell me anything specific about it, just that he felt he did well and it wasn't too bad and I shouldn't worry. We talked a little bit more about our plans for life, he wants to be a physical therapist, I want to be a doctor. Then he left.

It wasn't until after the guy left that I realized he was the answer to my prayer. My anxiety was gone! Completely. I felt prepared for the test. Funny thing, is he will never know  I don't even know his name. He helped my test fears, and talking about our life goals made me feel better about my fears for the future.

The world is full of small moments like this; ones that lift us just when we need it. Like the guy who gave me a ride to school when I was walking in the snow one day. Or the lady who helped me pay for an essay I needed printed but I was two cents short. Or when I was walking into my test and I found a dime!

Call it our innate human kindness, which it may be, but it is too much "coincidence" for some things to line up just right. At the moment I was having stress over my test, I just happened to be in the hallway, and among tens of thousands of students I just happened to be sitting to one in my class, who just happened to have taken the test, and he just happened to look over and notice my book. Just try to tell me there isn't something out there orchestrating our lives. I say orchestrating instead of dictating because just like a orchestra director he leads us and sets up situations. its our choice to decide whether or not to play the music.

God is aware of our lives, and that is a very encouraging thought. The thought that the Grand Master of the Universe knows what is going on in the lives of his children, that He cares enough about my anxiety over a test, to put me in a situation where I can be comforted. If a test is important I know that bigger things have meaning to Him and he is aware. Not only is he aware, but God is very involved in our lives, and He involves himself mostly through the people around us. We are his hands. May we be listening to the cues so we can be ready to play our part, play our music when the time comes.

Oh, and by the way...I only missed one question on my physics test. Boo-yah.