Okay, I know I just posted, but do you ever have those times when you are working through something and there don't seem to be any clear answers or validation? And then you remember, oh, right, maybe I could pray about this instead of fretting over it...so you do, and it doesn't solve the problem but you have the sense that this small thing could go a long way in your day because you took a second to have a right approach?
I don't know if that makes any sense, but it's indicative of my day. And you know how sometimes you need to have a certain focus before a thing makes sense?
It's funny...or maybe it isn't...how my worrying accomplished pretty much nothing, and now that I resigned myself to trust in this one area, the words of a friend or a situation at work actually confirm that trust. Hmm. Why do I think that God is so small?
It's staggering how big God is. I know that sounds simplistic, but I guess I need things to be broken down simply sometimes. I'm okay with that. It's quite a thought.
Wishing you a lovely day!~
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Oops, I've been slacking...what can I say, homework happens!
Sorry for the long delay. I've been a lot busier than anticipated and I'm still ferreting out various plans for the new year. (I'm not sure that word works in the sentence, I just really wanted to use 'ferreting.') ;)
I'm so glad to have made it through mid-terms. With some very well-timed encouragement, no less. :) Granted, I only had two, but one of them stressed me out to no end, and I went to bed late for several nights. Even though I haven't gotten my marks back, I'm trying to focus on doing my best and not beating myself up about it if I don't understand something.
I think that's been the trickiest part of going back to school. In high school, I gravitated towards subjects that I understood and thought I could do well in, even though I made myself take math all the way through to OAC and took courses like chemistry even though my parents tried to encourage me in other disciplines. (It's possible they realized I wouldn't thrive in that course the way my brother had.) ;) Even though my group of friends was seriously smart at every subject (I mean, come on, chemistry and English and French...oh, and Art too??), I was decidedly more one-sided. All to say that it was good for me to take maths and sciences, but that I'd sort of forgotten what it was like to really be out of my depths. And I do not care for that feeling.
This psych course has the tendency to do me in from time to time, as I'm sure my friends can attest to, since I've been going on ad nauseum about it. (Sorry! :{ ) It's not so much the discipline- I took Psych 101 and found it fairly interesting- but this particular course gives me no small difficulty in simply grasping the concepts. It's a bit of a wake-up call for me: first, because I'm not magically going to be good at every course and that's okay; and second, because I maybe need to grow up and make an effort even if something doesn't interest me. Admittedly, I don't have the best work ethic when it comes to assignments, so I need to be more disciplined and plan my time better. These sorts of hurdles are conveniently forgotten when one finishes school and doesn't go back for over four years...
Okay, if you haven't fallen asleep out of sheer boredom by now, thanks for persisting. ;)
Something else that has been woven through the last few weeks are encounters with some pretty great people. The people in my church-sort-of-group are truly terrific and they teach me so much about building into each other's lives. I was housesitting for a week or so in a house that was on the market so there were showings from time to time, at which point I'd go spend time at another family's house. I got to know their kids better, and the parents are around my age; it was great to just hang out and get to know each other better. I hope to drop by more often and help them out.
Another time, I visited another friend (who also has kids - I guess I'm in that demographic now, yikes! ;) ) and she asked me all kinds of questions about being from a large family which a few years ago I would have balked at, but now, to my own surprise, could discuss at length without rancour or too much awkwardness. It's funny how time and distance will do that...and yet it's that same distance that I kind of regret, being far from my parents and not seeing my brothers when they're growing up so quickly. It's just one of those ongoing sort of things where I try to visit a few times a year at least and keep in touch.
Anyways, that's all to say that I'm more and more struck with the fact that at the end of the day, it's people that matter. To quote from The Rag Coat by Lauren Mills, "People only need people, and nothing else. Don't you forget it." Well, I think that we are this way because of an inherent need for community fabricated into us by God, but it's been resonating with me, this concept. Whatever happens in life, however things turn out with school or work or any type of relationship- if I'm not connected with others and if we're not part of each other's lives in ways that matter, what are we really left with?
It's the people that matter.
Now, if I can only go about the 'quotidien' with that priority...
I'm so glad to have made it through mid-terms. With some very well-timed encouragement, no less. :) Granted, I only had two, but one of them stressed me out to no end, and I went to bed late for several nights. Even though I haven't gotten my marks back, I'm trying to focus on doing my best and not beating myself up about it if I don't understand something.
I think that's been the trickiest part of going back to school. In high school, I gravitated towards subjects that I understood and thought I could do well in, even though I made myself take math all the way through to OAC and took courses like chemistry even though my parents tried to encourage me in other disciplines. (It's possible they realized I wouldn't thrive in that course the way my brother had.) ;) Even though my group of friends was seriously smart at every subject (I mean, come on, chemistry and English and French...oh, and Art too??), I was decidedly more one-sided. All to say that it was good for me to take maths and sciences, but that I'd sort of forgotten what it was like to really be out of my depths. And I do not care for that feeling.
This psych course has the tendency to do me in from time to time, as I'm sure my friends can attest to, since I've been going on ad nauseum about it. (Sorry! :{ ) It's not so much the discipline- I took Psych 101 and found it fairly interesting- but this particular course gives me no small difficulty in simply grasping the concepts. It's a bit of a wake-up call for me: first, because I'm not magically going to be good at every course and that's okay; and second, because I maybe need to grow up and make an effort even if something doesn't interest me. Admittedly, I don't have the best work ethic when it comes to assignments, so I need to be more disciplined and plan my time better. These sorts of hurdles are conveniently forgotten when one finishes school and doesn't go back for over four years...
Okay, if you haven't fallen asleep out of sheer boredom by now, thanks for persisting. ;)
Something else that has been woven through the last few weeks are encounters with some pretty great people. The people in my church-sort-of-group are truly terrific and they teach me so much about building into each other's lives. I was housesitting for a week or so in a house that was on the market so there were showings from time to time, at which point I'd go spend time at another family's house. I got to know their kids better, and the parents are around my age; it was great to just hang out and get to know each other better. I hope to drop by more often and help them out.
Another time, I visited another friend (who also has kids - I guess I'm in that demographic now, yikes! ;) ) and she asked me all kinds of questions about being from a large family which a few years ago I would have balked at, but now, to my own surprise, could discuss at length without rancour or too much awkwardness. It's funny how time and distance will do that...and yet it's that same distance that I kind of regret, being far from my parents and not seeing my brothers when they're growing up so quickly. It's just one of those ongoing sort of things where I try to visit a few times a year at least and keep in touch.
Anyways, that's all to say that I'm more and more struck with the fact that at the end of the day, it's people that matter. To quote from The Rag Coat by Lauren Mills, "People only need people, and nothing else. Don't you forget it." Well, I think that we are this way because of an inherent need for community fabricated into us by God, but it's been resonating with me, this concept. Whatever happens in life, however things turn out with school or work or any type of relationship- if I'm not connected with others and if we're not part of each other's lives in ways that matter, what are we really left with?
It's the people that matter.
Now, if I can only go about the 'quotidien' with that priority...
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