Nothing could be finer...

At the outrageous hour of 7:00 a.m. on SATURDAY, of all days, we arrived on Stadium Drive in Chapel Hill. It occurred to me that in the six years of being a full-time undergrad and then grad student (and additional three semesters of education classes for my graduate-level teaching certificate), I never saw the sun come up over the Bell Tower. Given the clouds on Saturday, I still haven't. But at least we saw the shift from night to day through the dawn's early light.

Parking was not a problem, which is along the lines of a miracle in Chapel Hill. We rolled out of the car, snapped the shot of KLC and the Bell Tower, and headed to Carolina 101 overflow in Murphey Hall, home of the Classics Department.  It was freezing. Not literally, but if felt freezing as we walked past the Pit and up the walkway next to Davis. We cut behind Lenior and hurried to Murphey, excited to see lights on inside. Peeking in the front door, we saw signs of life. We opened the door and were greeted by Dr. Dave M. who said, "You here for 101?"

"Yes, can we come in?"
"We're not quite ready for the program yet."
"We won't get in your way, I promise. It's freezing out there, and we don't want to die."
"Well, we can't have that. Frostbite is nasty. Freezing to death is worse. Why don't you guys have a seat in one of the classrooms down the hall. We'll let you know when we're ready."

And so began the adventure of Carolina 101.

I was glad to see that my alma mater had hired a fun guy in the admissions department. He later teased me about getting coffee or hot chocolate to help me recover. I told him that to make the program a complete success, he needs to hand out Snuggies. He could also move the registration table a few feet to the right or left. Where they had it on Saturday was smack in the middle of the front entry to the Classics building. Where they had replicas of Greek statues. KLC picked up her registration packet off the table under the watchful eyes of a naked Greek dude sporting a stylish fig leaf.

( "This is NOT what you should expect in college, KLC -- naked Greek guys with strategically-placed fig leaves. But if you do happen to see one walking across campus, go the other direction." Teachable moments, you know.)

We had a great day on campus.  We learned about the Carolina 101 program, went on a walking tour of campus, got a chance to talk to professors and students, and heard about admissions process and financial aid/scholarships. It was great! We had no idea how KLC got on the short-list of people they invited to come to the program, but Dr. Dave shared their thinking, and we were simply grateful for God's provision.

The temptation after SUCH a great day is to grasp hold of one vision for college, but we've learned that when the Lord blesses you with something special, you have to hold it with an open hand. I will admit one thing though, after visiting, my attitude about KLC going there has changed.

For a long time, I saw UNC through my experience there, and knowing what an adolescent mess I was the first years, I cringed at the thought of KLC going through the same thing. But yesterday reminded me that we are two very different people. And the Lord has His unique plan for her life. For the first time in the whole college dialogue, I could see letting go of her to follow hard after the plans the Lord has for her as a good thing. I really don't have to micro-manage His work in her life. As a matter of fact, I might be creating unnecessary challenges for her in doing so (naked Greek statues notwithstanding).

The road to college is long and short at this point. I'm sure that in August of 2012, I'll swear it was the shortest road anywhere, ever. Yet there's a lot of ground to cover from now until then, and we really don't know where that road will take us or what we'll go through to get there. So we are left on our knees, praying and trusting.  To be honest, if we do it right, we may even get to enjoy the ride.