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Over the weekend, we received a few days of sleet and freezing rain. I made a sleet cake to celebrate and this morning, the kids got a two hour delay for school because of the freezing rain. Not quite the joy that a snow day brings, but two extra hours of sleep certainly brings a smile.

A few pictures from our recent visit to Longwood University:

In the angst of all mothers who have laid aside their personal pursuits and have spent their lives teaching and caring for their children I sit. The future is not within my control. Success or failure, diligence or apathy, care or disregard, they choose.

If they choose poorly…What then?

Awhile ago, there was a young man who had great success in high school and was accepted into the top universities in the nation. He declined them.

(His Mama prayed.)

He attended a local college but dropped out after one semester.

(His Mama prayed.)

His buddy joined the Army. On a lark, he joined too.

(His Mama prayed.)

A platoon leader made him sign a paper, and he was shipped off to prep school and then West Point.

(His Mama prayed.)

A year ago, he retired from the Army after 23 years of service.

That man is my husband. His Mama had faith in our God.

The path my children walk might not be a straight one.

Will I lose hope?

Or will I pray?

“Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons, but they are helpless against our prayers.” J Sidlow Baxter

On Monday, Dale, Josiah, and I traveled down to Farmville, Virginia for a college visit at Longwood University. It’s a Virginia Public University a little over 2 hours away with approximately 4000 undergraduate students. The college was established in 1839 as an all female college. It became coed in 1976 and changed over to a university in 2002. It is now 31% male. I told Josiah if he went there, he would get the same ‘I’m outnumbered’ experience as I had in college. Although, his ratio is not quite as severe as mine (10 to 1). Dale remarked that I should be thankful I was blessed with such a good guy to girl ratio, because it enabled me to pick the cream of the crop.

Yep, he’s the cream of the crop, alright.

The campus looks like Old Virginia with its brick buildings and white columns. We could walk from one end of campus to the other in 10 minutes. There were plenty of lawns, a giant magnolia tree, and a fountain. The dorm rooms were a decent size. Each room has two students and two dorm rooms share a bathroom. There is a laundry room and an RA on each floor. There are all female dorms and coed dorms.

The student to teacher ratio is 20 to 1, and professors not grad assistants teach the classes. The admissions people emphasized that the professors really get to know their students and each professor keeps office hours to be accessible to the students. This tidbit made Dale and I laugh, as well as the mention of the College President having an open door policy. We chuckled further when we saw the honor code displayed prominently in the library. Furthermore, freshman are not allowed to have cars on campus. In the autumn, in a mass show of support for their athletic teams, all the students (with Longwood scarves in hand) march across campus to the first sporting event of the season to cheer on the team.

All these little bits here and there bring back memories to Dale and I of our dear alma mater. The reason for all this similarity: in 2010, the former dean of West Point became the President of Longwood University. I personally suspect, over the course of time, the number of guys on campus will begin to increase.

The campus is very safe. There are blue emergency poles all throughout campus. If you press the button, campus security will be there in 2 minutes. All dorms are only accessible to those who live in them, and there is a door watch person who ensures no one enters the dorm who does not live there. Back in the military, we called this person the CQ (charge of quarters). Furthermore, there is an organization on campus called the night walkers who will walk with you across campus until 4 am if needed. Dale remarked he would feel safer walking by himself than with someone termed a night walker.

There are all kinds of handy dandy jobs on campus for students to apply for besides RA, door watch person, and night walker. Each dorm has a student who is its designated tech support available 24 hours a day. If a student is tech savvy, the university will send them to class to learn the in and outs of trouble shooting and then pay them to find lost papers on crashed computers in the middle of the night. A student can wipe down equipment at the gym, check ids, or give tours for a job.

Every thing is accessed and paid for through your college card. It gains you access to the gym’s climbing wall, the cafeteria food line, and your dorm. You use it for the cost of the washing machine and the cost of your books at the bookstore. I found it most remarkable that it could also be used to buy food at the restaurant all Manrys love just down the street. Modern technology – it’s amazing.

There are two secret organizations on campus, one group is chosen for academics and another group is chosen for leadership. The leadership organization has blue rotunda symbols painted on the walkways throughout campus. A student is never to step on one for fear of something bad happening. The academic organization has black crowns painted on the walkways and it is considered good luck to step on those in the pursuit of good grades. Students specifically run outside to do this during finals week. At West Point, we had to sneak out at midnight and spin the spurs on Sedgewick’s monument if we wanted such luck on an exam. I have come to suspect there must be academic luck spots on every college campus.

In a bit of strangeness, Longwood’s secret leadership organization CHI marches through campus in hoods each year chanting as they march along. The members only reveal themselves at a bonfire before their graduation. Josiah found it amazing that in 2012 secret organizations still march around in hoods on their way to bonfires.

I reminded him we live in the south.

We all really liked the campus: the number of students, its accessibility, and the academic emphasis. We got the feeling it was a good place to go to school. The students were very positive and we figured Josiah would not likely get lost. We have several more college visits to do, but Longwood definitely stays on the list.

During prayer and praise time last Sunday at church, Abby told everyone she wanted to praise the Lord that she had passed the test and gotten her learners permit for driving. Immediately following her happy report, Dale gave an unmotivated “Yeah” in response.

Dale’s name was then added to the prayer request list.