The most awesomely awesome news yet!

I am about to explode with happiness! Jonathan got accepted to the France Study Program!!!! There are not enough exclamation points in the world to express how ecstatic I am for him and he is for himself!

He gets to spend 3 months studying in France with 19 fellow students and 3 faculty from his school. He will be there from February 2 to May 1st next year. They will spend 6 weeks in Paris. They will spend the remaining time in various other parts of France, part of that time living with a French family. They will have 8 days on their own, to go wherever they want, do what they want, whatever, the first week of April.

This is a really competitive program, so to have been selected...well, it's really, really an honor. I feel like Sally Field - "they like him, they really like him!" I am so proud of him I can't contain myself. What an incredible experience this will be for him.

He had to interview for the program on Tuesday as part of the selection process, as well as submit 3 faculty and one peer reference. He told me what he had said during the interview, and I was pretty impressed with his answers. Apparently, the panel was too! One question was "why do you want to go." His answer was, apart from the obvious reason - to live in a France - he really felt that living in a foreign country helps you to learn things about yourself you might not learn if you are always surrounded by the familiar sights, sounds, and people of the US. He told them he also wanted a chance to live among the French, to see their culture firsthand, so that when people talk about the French, especially in a stereotypical fashion, he could say "they're not like that. I know. I lived there" or "you're right. They are like that, but they are also like this...". I thought those were good answers, especially the one about learning about yourself.

So... we're really, really, excited here! I was, literally, in tears when he told me. I wanted this for him so much. It will be a life-changing experience for him. I couldn't be happier. God is so awesome! I was on pins and needles all night, couldn't sleep, prayed pretty much non-stop all night, and was just so blessed when he gave me the news. NOW, the whole not getting the RA thing makes so much sense. Why do I insist on trying to tell God how to work things out when He has such a better plan? Some day I'll learn.