Meanwhile, Steve was still in grad school finishing his last class-computational linear algebra. And in fact, he was working on his thesis
project which was a graduation requirement. He didn't know it at the time but, his project proved to be very
strategic in this whole journey. He chose the topic because he loved the material.
Michael Faraday and James Maxwell had always been scientific heroes of
his and so he decided to study about Maxwell's Equations of Electromagnetism which are the bedrock
foundation of electromagnetism and electrical engineering.
As an aside, this project was truly a beauty from ashes thing
for him. When Steve started at Cal Poly,
he was talented and expected to do well; he entered as an electrical
engineering student. He spent nearly
three years in the major but he was young and lacked discipline. All of the sudden he had to study. And he didn't have the skills or the
confidence to fight through the difficulties.
The more difficulties he faced the more he retreated. As a result, he didn't do well.
He switched out of electrical engineering and
when we got married, finished in math.
But his difficulties as an undergrad always haunted him. He felt deep regret for how he had handled
his studies and also felt that his potential had been wasted. That is why, after five years, he went back
to school for his Masters in Math and he rocked it, showing his abilities. With maturity and much more on the line, he
really soared.
So it was fitting that his final project for his Masters in
Math was an electrical engineering project (that was very math heavy). When he told his graduate committee chair
what he wanted to do, his chair was a bit reticent saying he thought the
content might be too difficult. But
Steve was determined. So his chair
relented and told him to make sure and update him regularly on his progress so
that he could be sure he was headed in the right direction. So Steve researched and slowly worked his way
through Maxwell's Equations, teaching himself the ins and outs of the problems. He also read Maxwell's biography and that
really touched him bringing out the humanity in Maxwell and not just the genius
in the math.
In fact, awhile back, I posted about a poem Steve read
to me one particular Saturday toward the end of Texas A & M. That Saturday he had been out all day working on Maxwell and had come across the poem in Maxwell's
biography. The poem has had a huge
presence in our lives since. We recite
it to each other often. It's posted on
our bedroom wall.
"Trust me Spring
is very near, All the buds are swelling, All the glory of the year, In those
buds is dwelling. What the open buds
reveal, Tell us life is flowing, What the buds still shut, conceal, we shall
end in knowing....".
It became a
continual reminder of what we were working toward. And that God would reveal to us where we were
headed in His time. Spring was coming.
Steve presented his thesis project to his committee, passed his final oral exit exam, finished his last class and graduated with honors in May. We thought we'd know where we were going by then. But we didn't. It was a bit disappointing but we tried really hard to just keep going forward, keep working as hard as we could to open up connections for him, and let God do the rest. And did God have a HUGE blessing in the works.
We had no idea what was coming right around the corner...but God was about ready to move on our behalf in a big way.
It looked like nothing was in sight and then God just moved.
"For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground." Isaiah 44:3
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