Learning to be surprised by God

A while back I mentioned in a blog that I was waiting to hear back from a seminary if I had been accepted to their counseling program. Well, I was and I'm officially in St. Louis awaiting fall semester to start. But don't get the idea that just because classes haven't started that school isn't already in session. Oh no. Classes in the school of life are very much ongoing right now. The current class: faith; the current lesson: letting God surprise me. This lesson was initiated my last week in Indy. I was packing up my house to leave, making arrangements for who would drive down with me, arranging with the school for help on the St. Louis side to unload my van, while also coordinating those final hang out times. I thought I was doing a pretty darn good job being organized balancing these different aspects of preparing to move. And then life happened. A beautiful woman of God who had been graciously walking the journey of cancer was mercifully released from her battle and no doubt swept into the arms of Jesus. Lovely for her, sucky for the rest of us. Her funeral was scheduled for the day I initially intended to leave. I had absolutely no trouble making the decision to stay the extra day to celebrate the glory of God through her life---I don't hold quite that tightly to the plans I've made. However, all of a sudden my brain was in a tailspin about how I was going to pack my moving van while at a funeral, who was going to drive down with me (far fewer people were able to go down on Sunday versus the original Saturday) and questioning if there would be anyone on the other end to help unload (that was especially stressful knowing there were fewer people able to drive down with me). To add to that, my moving van of choice (Uhaul) was not cooperating with the whole "hold the reservation" thing and at one point I was certain I did not have a van to move my things from one state to the next. In the midst of the chaos flowing through my brain and the acid flowing in my stomach God spoke. Somehow through that mess He was able to get a message through to my heart. The message: "Give Me a chance to surprise you with My provision." He was asking me to lay down the stress and the constant running of my mind in order to let Him pull everything together. It would appear I didn't pass this test because now, 2 weeks later, I've been given a retake of the test. Yesterday evening I experienced the joy of an electrical fire in my apartment. Minimal damage but serious enough of an issue that I'm going to have to move. As I packed up my stuff to go to a hotel last night my mind started again with the chaos and my stomach with the acid. My beautifully planned week before starting school next week was going down the toilet. As I scrutinized over any possible solution to my dilemma the Teacher spoke up and helped me cheat a bit..."Give Me a chance to surprise you with My provision." It hit me that the same lesson was in progress, class was very much not dismissed and I had a chance to improve the results from the last time this test was presented to me. I really have no idea how to not plan in order to provide for myself but I guess that's what faith is anyway; choosing to trust the unseen over that which can be seen. As I muddle through this one I'll try to keep you updated on how God works. I know in my heart that it could be quite exciting and fun so I'm determined to learn how to let God do His thing. Should be interesting!