Day 46 In the Sink Hole wakes me up with the morning dampness. The night before I had slept in the Hole. I then see the infamous ladder being lowered down.
“Goo mohningu!” exclaims Toshiko.
“I’m up. Let me just gather my things.” I exclaim in return.
I make my way up the rungs of the ladder. I notice that the ladder’s last run is actually sticking out of the hole quite noticeably. Hmmm, there’s hope after all.
I then realize that I had asked Toshiko the night before to wake me up a half hour early, I needed to call a company on the East Coast. I needed help in registering a product that I got for my science class. That starts June 13th.
We get into the house and I go straight for the computer and call the company. Oh good, someone actually answered.
I explain that I had gotten the material, but it’s asking for an access code, but I had erased accidentally. The woman was sweet and kind and helped me reset it. As we’re waiting for the computer to fire up again, I ask where I’m calling.
“Kentucky, really close to Cincinnati, Ohio,” she answers.
“Oh, My Husband is really big Cincinnati Reds Fan,” I explain.
“Oh, wow. We’re actually going to their game tonight,” she converses back.
“Well, I hope you have fun,” I say.
The computer finally comes on and the program works. I just need a code from the instructor now to start the courses.
I thank the kind woman and hang up.
I then email the professor, explaining that I now need a code, because since he wants an assignment done the first day of class, I don’t want to wait until the last minute to do it. I also explain that I work until 5pm everyday.
Toshiko comes into the office, where we have the computer and asks, “Eburee singu ohritsu?”
“Yeah, I think so,” I answer.
It’s now off to the shower and getting ready for work. As I’m starting the shower, I wonder what’s in store for me at work. Lately, they’ve had me go to one of the branches to work there.
I hop into the shower and begin my prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus,
I’m really anxious for this class to start. After much consideration, I truly want to work permanently for the company I’m at now and just need this class to be over with and I can then gain employment there.
I’m extremely grateful that they’re patient with me and always want the best for me and from me.
Thank you that I was able to experience the branch and see what it’s like. That was the much needed nail for me to make the decision on wanting to work for them.
Thank you that everyone else that’s waiting for me to start making more money have been patient as well.
Thank you that the woman this morning was able to help me with this online course.
Please allow me to have a wonderful day at work, as You always let me have.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
As I’m getting ready and doing my hair, I just feel hopeful that everything is going to work out and that hope and faith are going to get me through any trial.
KROQ seems to be playing some throwback tunes that remind me of when I was 23-24. Oddly enough at that time, I was going to school at LBCC and listening to the same thing. With this whole school thing and moving back, lately, I feel like I’m getting a second chance on life.
When I arrive, I see PE waiting for the elevator. Not realizing that he had stopped smoking, I ask, “How was it the past 2 days?”
“Taking your phone calls because you keep charging the customers’ credit cards,” he says quite rudely.
I explain, “Well, Boss Lady 2 didn’t say for me to call them.”
As he walks ahead of me, I stick my tongue out at him. I also give him that snarky look that he deserves for greeting me in such a manner. So much for the hopeful and positive attitude I was going to have today.
I then begin my work and remind myself that I am grateful that I don’t need to sit next to him anymore. It is then that I over hear him say that he’s trying to quit smoking. Ohhh, hence the reason why he was so rude. He should be so grateful that I haven’t turned on him, as any Gemini would have, a long time ago.
I’ve never been into the horiscopes, maybe the occasional looking at the newspaper of what fortunes may lay ahead. But, I do look at personality and try to judge accordingly to the patterns of that personality and see if I can meet them half way. So, yes, in that retrospect of having an ‘evil twin’, the angry side, the rotten side, can make its appearance.
As the day goes on, I see TR and tell her about the class and that it will be done on July 16th. It is then that I ask if I should start the paperwork or wait. She gives me the green light. Alright, by this weekend, I will have adjusted my resume and will send in my application. I was on Cloud 9, once again.
But, Cloud 9 became gray clouds when I get a call from the school where this class is going to take place, because the registrar’s office couldn’t see if I had taken a biology class. I tell the woman I’m eating my lunch and at work. I can’t do this until 5pm. She needed this done by the morning, or I would be dropped from the class.
I go out for my walk, because I’m just distraught. I call out to God, “Why is this happening?”
I call My Husband and explain everything.
When I get back, I tell Boss Lady 2 that I need to run home and will be back. I’ve got an emergency to take care of.
I get home and frantically try to find my transcripts from LBCC that says I took the human biology class. I was told straight out that all I needed was a biology class and I could take this course.
I find it! I then frantically copied and pasted it onto an email to this person and hope that she gets it.
I get back to work in less than 30 minutes, but know that I’ll need to stay the extra 30 to make up for it. That’s fine, I have tons of stuff I need to do, because before lunch, I found out that I’d be going back to the branch in the morning!
Around 4, I get a text from My Husband. After that, a friend of mine calls. I can’t talk to either one, since I’m knee deep into a project.
I don’t get out of work until 6! I think that’s the latest I’ve ever stayed. I didn’t get anything I needed to do done, since T&E’s were due today. I’m told that tomorrow I’m to go to the branch, again to help out, since I spoiled them there! I just hope that my hard work pays off and I can get a permanent position.
As I leave the office, I see that I have a voicemail from the school. The woman who told me from the very get go that all I needed was a biology class, and even up to the point of telling me that I was going to get dropped, if I didn’t have a biology course, then tells me that I have the WRONG biology course! It is then that I start to doubt God. I then hear, “I can get you into the lecture part, but I need to hear from you.”
There’s no time recorded for me to call back by a certain time or what time she gets in. I’m fuming in my car, on the way home.
When I get home, I’m about to blow steam like a teapot. Toshiko tries to calm me down. My Husband tries to calm me down.
It is then that Numbers 11:12-15 is revealed to me. I had written this verse down awhile ago when I was listening to Joyce Meyers. It says:
Moses said to God, “Why are you treating me this way? What did I ever do to you to deserve this? Did I conceive them? Was I their mother? So why dump the responsibility of this people on me? Why tell me to carry them around like a nursing mother, carry them all the way to the land you promised to their ancestors? Where am I supposed to get meat for all these people who are whining to me, ‘Give us meat; we want meat.’ I can’t do this by myself—it’s too much, all these people. If this is how you intend to treat me, do me a favor and kill me. I’ve seen enough; I’ve had enough. Let me out of here.” (The Message)
Although it’s not people per se that I have to carry and take care of, but it’s this one little tiny 1 unit course that needs to be done. Everytime I think that it’s going to be done and over with, there’s another glitch. Then, there’s another glitch. It’s either the school won’t allow me or they want more from me. When will it stop?!?
Yes, I was worried I’d have nothing to do and would need to find things to fill up my time, but this is ridiculous. I explain this to Toshiko and he says, “Payshon. Satan wants tsu getsu you. He knowzu you ah churyingu tsu do God’s wahku. God knowzu you mahstu taku curassu. He werru maku way. Onree need to taku rekcha tsu? Ok. So do. Mahnee werru be zayah. No warreesu. Dontsu be riku EEzureeritsu. Monku, monku, monku. (complain)”
He then continues, “Warree maykus beega horru. Payshon maykus horru sumoru.”
He’s got a point-Worrying is only going to make the hole bigger. But if I’m patient, it’ll make the hole smaller.
I think I’m stuck on the principle of it all, that I already had a bio class and even went to cosmetology school and yet no one cares about those courses. I think I’m also stuck on the fact that it’s going to cost money to get this done. Really?!? The more time I worry about the paying part, the less time I have to get the stuff and start the class. Yes, it’s two classes in 4 weeks. But, Girl, we’ve done this before. All you need is just a passing grade. Don’t let the Japanese part or the Asian part get the best of you. Be the American, and just get by and then all will be done.
Toshiko knows that I’m in deep thought. So, he urges us to go to the Sink Hole to talk about this.
When we get there, I explain what I was thinking and then continue, “Now I know why it took the Isrealites FOREVER to get from point A to point B in 40 years, rather than in 2 weeks. They kept complaining and murmuring about what they had to face and what they had to do. If they just kept their mouth shut and just started moving towards Point B, the Promise Land, they would’ve gotten there a lot faster. Yes, the woman should’ve looked at the transcripts much earlier and told me about the problem A WHOLE LOT EARLIER. SHE HAD PRACTICALLY 4 WEEKS to tell me all this and she’s telling me 5 days before the start of class!”
Toshiko and My Husband look at me for further words.
I continue, “I have been doing good. I have been trusting God, until now. It’s when we stop doing this, is when we lose hope and faith that good things are going to happen. If I need to take the class, then take the class. I can’t let this one little tiny unit that I will never use be the defining moment of my schooling. I can’t let 3 units get in the way of my whole entire life. I didn’t come this far, only to give up now. But, the real fight isn’t the principle of having taken the class, but to actually get through the class.”
It is then that Toshiko starts jumping up and down praising God, because I’ve finally realized that I need to learn to pick my battles. Fight for the class, in that fight to get through it, not having to take it, and then it being the defining moment of my whole entire life. So what, it’s only 4 weeks and $150.00 more plus books. We’ve got gas in the cars and food on the table, a roof over our heads and clothes on our backs. The money I use for this will be given back ten times fold, once it’s all over and done with and I’m in the career that I’m trying to fight for.
Toshiko is so proud of me that he orders me to put 10 scoops of dirt into the Hole. He then orders David to put another 10 scoops because he’s been a saint through this whole time and just supporting me in his own way and being my number 1 cheerleader.
It was tough to get the final tenth scoop, but it was well worth it.
I’ve realized that this other class I will have to take will take more time away from me this summer and allowing me to apply for the job, I will a lifetime to either regret that I ended my schooling this way or am able to share my experience with others.
Toshiko tells me that I can sleep in the house tonight as well. I deserved it.
The three of us walk towards the house, as we’ve realized that we didn’t eat dinner and we were all getting hungry. I ask, “Onaka ga suita nani o tabetai?” I’m getting hungry, what’s there to eat?
Toshiko answers, “Shirimasen.” I don’t know.
My Husband says, “I’m eating leftover past from last night that my wife made.”
The 3 things I’m most grateful for and constantly blessed by are
