the past ten or so days have been quite full for me. i appreciate your prayers, and am glad to tell you that the tests went well. certainly the most fulfilling experience was the day of one of the exams, when i was sitting in my orchestra conductor's office studying. a very gifted violinist came in and asked me to listen to the piece she was preparing to perform, while i read the music, to see if she made any mistakes. being completely tone deaf, i said "sure." she started playing, and as soon as she did i knew God was providing for me. i put my textbooks down and leaned back in the chair and listened to the beautiful music. it was only a five minute piece, but it was five minutes God provided for me to stop stressing over math and listen to beautiful music.

as i was listening to that music, i thought about jonah. jonah is my favorite old testement book, because it clearly displays the saving work of God. if you read the book, you need to put yourself in jonah's shoes. he was in the belly of a fish for three days. if you've ever been fishing, you know how bad fish smell. it must have been dark in that belly, and the fright that comes with darkness was only augmented by the undoubted "roller coaster" motion of the fish. i seriously doubt the fish remained still while jonah was inside it. i'm sure it was swimming up, down, left, right, etc. so imagine living three days through that, to be vomited up onto dry land to call a city of thousands to repentence. there jonah finds himself on a hill, looking over the city. it was a hot day. a very hot day, and jonah may have been bald. so God appointed a plant to grow during the night to cover jonah's head. he provided for jonah-- provided everything from salvation to protecting the skin on his head. so also God has provided salvation for me, and even little comforts such as an opportunity to hear beautiful music before an exam.

sDg. jonah 2:9