Sometimes the Lord takes us Kicking and Screaming to our Blessings

My daughter, Emma, began college three years ago at Kutztown University near Philadelphia.  Her roommate was a best friend since the fifth grade.  That first year, they had a small cinderblock room on the third floor of a very antiquated dormitory--sharing showers and restrooms with about twenty other girls. 

 

I’ve always been a nervous mother; always worrying about my children when they were out of sight.  My daughter was the only child to go away to school.  I worried about her constantly those first few months.  But eventually, I learned to love the school and felt the dormitory life was safe.  Emma lived there for three years—it had become home away from home.  During that time, she had picked up a third roommate who had become another very close friend.

 

 

During her junior year of college, the girls learned that Kutztown would be changing on-campus living arrangements the following school year.  All the original dorms (including the one she had been living in) were to be freshman only dorms. Only the most expensive apartment-style dorms would be available for upper classman to rent.  This left my daughter and her roommates with the task of finding off-campus housing for their senior year. 

After searching  for a few weeks, they found housing:  a fully furnished student only apartment complex called Sacony Commons--not too far from campus. Each apartment had three bedrooms, a huge bathroom, living room and kitchen, central air, and washer & dryer.  It was very modern with painted walls, new furniture, new kitchen cabinets, etc.  The price was similar to the dorm they had been living in.  It seemed perfect. We paid our deposit and signed leases in January--eight months before they would even need it.

When summer break came around, my daughter was more excited than ever about having her very own apartment with her two best friends come September.  However, I was concerned.  I kept thinking about how she would have to park in a dark lot at night to enter the building (the building was in a secluded area) and make her way through hallways and stairwells to reach her apartment.

Money was also an issue.  I no longer worked full time and I was not sure there would be enough to get her through that final year.  Things just seemed unsettling to me.  I began praying to my Heavenly Father about the whole situation—explaining my concerns about finances and safety.  As the upcoming school year grew closer, I prayed and fasted for HIS help.

Three weeks before school began, a catastrophe happened.  My daughter and her roommates (along with all the other students who had made the same arrangements) were sent an email explaining all housing contracts were cancelled—they no longer had housing at Sacony Commons—they no longer had housing anywhere!

We freaked out: we cried, we yelled, we worried--we were absolutely sick!  We immediately began calling the office at the apartment complex but no one would answer to give us any information as to what had happened.  We checked with the college, but all they knew was that all the housing contracts with that unit had indeed been cancelled—they didn’t understand why—but hundreds of students were now scrambling for housing for a school year that would begin in just three weeks.

My daughter couldn’t eat, she couldn’t sleep, and she cried a lot.  She had an extremely busy school year coming up—18 credits worth of classes and she was president of the girl’s rugby team with tons of practice and meetings.  The only solution the college offered was to put my daughter with a stranger in a very expensive dorm.  All her dreams of having a place with her two best friends—the two girls she had shared the past three years of college life with—down the drain.  She begged me to help her find a better solution. 

 

I turned to the Lord in prayer.  Oddly, I felt calm and peaceful--sure that everything would work out—not to worry.  I had this overwhelming feeling that what was occurring was actually an answer to my earlier prayers about finances and safety.  But how could that be--there wasn’t available housing anywhere.

My daughter and her roommates drove to Kutztown a few days later determined to find something.  Right behind the school was another off campus housing unit for students called The Cliffs.  The Cliffs were old 1970’s style townhouses.  Normally, they had tons of vacancies available each school year, but, because the college had changed the less expensive dorms to freshman only—they had filled up even before the Sacony Commons crisis.  My daughter had called them the minute we received the infamous email, but the office would be closed for several days due to vacation—we left tons of messages. 

When they arrived in Kutztown, they immediately went to The Cliffs.  The lady in the office was kind and understanding, but, she sadly informed them that they were filled and already had a long waiting list for cancellations.  My daughter put their name on the list anyways and the three of them left to seek other options. 

A male student they knew from their old dorm had called and asked if he could also room with them.  He had lost his housing at Sacony Commons as well, and his roommate (and good friend) had dropped him like a hot potato as soon as he found his own housing with others; this young man had nowhere to go.  As a matter of fact, a lot of friendships ended over the housing crises as students abandoned each other.  My daughter and her friends were determined to stay together, and being the compassionate girls they are, they were even more determined to find a place for the four of them--an impossible task.

After many hours of searching, they sent me a text and told me they had found an old farmhouse out in the country about a 20 minute drive to school.  I asked for a picture.  When the picture arrived on my phone, I knew it was not the right place—there was no way my daughter was going to live way out in the country, far away from everyone, in an old dilapidated building--but this was all that was available.

 I immediately got down on my knees and begged my Father in Heaven to help my daughter and her friends—there were only two weeks left till school began. 

Disappointed they started for home. On their way, my daughter received a call from the lady in the office at The Cliffs—she explained that they just had a cancellation and she was willing to give it to the girls (moving them to the top of the list).  She also stated that this particular unit had FOUR bedrooms.

Yesterday my daughter Emma, along with her two best friends, and a sweet young man, all moved in to their 70’s style Townhouse.  The rent is $1400 cheaper than Sacony Commons.  They park right in front of their own door with just a few steps till they are safely inside, they are surrounded by other students--no seclusion.  It is closer to the campus than Sacony Commons, so no need to buy a parking pass—she can walk to classes just as she always had in the past.  They each have their own furnished bedroom, TWO bathrooms, fully furnished kitchen and living room, and—Emma’s favorite--central air.  The townhouse is older with dark paneled walls, but it’s  adorable and has character.

Without my even realizing it, the Lord was answering my prayers for help with finances and safety just as I had asked Him. The whole experience was a reminder, that sometimes when we think all is lost and hopeless, well, that is when the Lord is actually taking us kicking and screaming to our blessings.

 

© August 27, 2012

(Matthew 17:21)

To learn more about the power of fasting:
https://www.lds.org/ensign/2009/04/fasting-with-power?lang=eng