A Change of Heart

I am not fond of loose ends. So here I am, five years after beginning my pursuit of a dream, writing my closure to the first leg of my journey.

It seems that my blog description has never been more apt, "Every ending is also a beginning."

On March 31, 2012, I finally received an e-mail which should have broken my heart but didn't. My application didn't make it to the final cut.

As to why it took me five years before posting, it is not that I got depressed, as I have already mentioned above. Far from it, in fact.

Weeks before the expected announcement of results, I have felt a stirring in my heart. I realize now that it was God's answer to a short prayer that I have: "Lord, as you know the past and the future, I ask that you prepare me for what really is  your will for me." So when I began to feel that it seemed all right no matter what the result would be, I knew somehow that God had a different plan.

I have a good excuse for not being able to write a single post in the last couple of years.

Days after I learned that I was not going to Hawai'i, my best friend asked me to be his wife.

We have now been married four years. It was my idea of a perfect beach wedding.

And so a new beginning has started for the two of us.

Broke through the first barrier

"Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear." ~ Isaiah 65:24

On Day 5 of our church's annual Prayer & Fasting, I received this e-mail:

I am happy to inform you that your application for a ... Graduate Degree Fellowship has been reviewed by the Center’s Degree Fellowship Committee and has passed the initial screening phase.

Your application will now undergo the following phases of the competition. In the second screening phase, your application will be reviewed by the University ... Graduate Division to determine whether or not you meet their admission requirements. Applications successfully reviewed by the Graduate Division will then be sent to the respective graduate field of study for their review in the third phase of the selection process. In the fourth phase, the Center’s ... Selection Committee will review the final pool of applications in late-March and will announce the award decisions no later than April 1, 2012.

As part of the final review process, we will also be reviewing candidates for ... Alumni Scholar Awards to qualified students who are not awarded a Graduate Degree Fellowship. Criteria for an ... Alumni Scholar Award include financial need, community involvement, leadership potential and academic achievement.

No further correspondence regarding the status of your application will be forthcoming until the award decisions are made and announced.

Glory to God! You Who Promised are faithful.