As some of you may know, I took the SAT last Saturday morning. It was a grueling four hours of testing with extremely short breaks and feverish prayer. I anticipated the day with much dread and did my best to ask God for peace every time I felt panic rise up within me. I was very discouraged on Friday night, because I wanted to enjoy time with my friends who were celebrating graduation, but I had to go home and get sleep. Of course, even that was difficult, because I couldn't get my thoughts to stop. I kept reminding myself that many people had promised to pray for me and I was guaranteed to get the exact score God wanted me to get. It was silly to worry about getting into college, God has that planned out already... silly for me to fear getting a lower score than I wanted- I'm out to please God by doing my best, not please man by scoring what they expect from me. The score will directly impact my senior year (influencing whether or not I have to take the SAT again...what colleges I will consider...) and thus this experience needed to be included in this senior journal of mine. Another key reason is my desire to share God's faithfulness. At Arlington High School bright and early, Andrea Cline and Joy Hedger were in the same testing room as I and we even saw Jesse Eldred, but he was in another room. My first opportunity to have a breakdown came when I realized I didn't have the testing ticket I needed to get in. But, I stayed calm, called my parents, and God had it orchestrated to the point that they were able to turn right back into Gleneagle (where we live, directly across from the high school) and bring it to me just as the school opened the door to begin registration. After making it in the classroom, I found to my horror, that the essay section was first. My pencil shook and my brain raced for the right words, but I filled up the two pages with a decent 5-paragraph form and a few good "impressive" words. I even had time to proof-read the thing. With that obstacle overcome, my next prayer was for the math section. I've always felt confident about English, but math is what "my" colleges care about, not English. It was a miracle for sure- out of all of the math questions, I only had no idea how to solve one of them. I have a 75% chance or so that all the rest are right because I at least thought I knew what to do. Plus, I finished one section with 10 minutes left over in a 25 minute section! That often happened with English on the PSAT, but NEVER math! God was with me and helped my brain think and my hand write. After downing energy drinks and random snacks during the breaks, bubbling in 10 mini-tests, and watching the clock for four hours- I finally made it! The fresh air hit me as I walked outside to meet my dad. After changing, I headed off to the 8th Grade Acceptance Banquet in my car. I had a fun time loudly praising God to the tunes of the radio and one song stood out as I felt the joy of giving everything to the Lord- "If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus 'tis now." No one is like Him. It was simple, I trusted Him, He carried me, and I loved Him more. I'll know my score later this month, and I know it will be just what I need to accomplish just what I should. Yep, love... there's no other word for it! I love Him!