I have now officially done all of the work required for this semester. It feels very odd to not be thinking about which books I have to read, the assignments I need to complete, and the papers I need to write. I have been doing all of this almost constantly since 2017 so it is going to take a little while to get used to having some more free time to devote to the other areas of my life.
Work, Family, Life Balance is Hard
For the last two years since beginning to drive for Uber to help pay for school, I have had preaching, family, schoolwork, and driving constantly rotating on my priority list. It has been a struggle to keep everything in its proper place without neglecting at least one of those areas. I write this not to complain; I am very privileged to be able to balance those things. But it does make me appreciate how difficult it is for others to have a lot going on but still keeping first things first in their relationship to God and the church.
This past week I was looking for rides to give downtown and I met a med student. I was driving her from her apartment near the hospital district and was taking her to a clinic in North Charleston. I asked her about her studies, her work, and in turn she asked what I did full-time. The conversation was nice, but she was obviously very tired. She revealed that she was a Med Student who just left a rotation at the hospital and was now going to do her shift at the local clinic to meet her hour requirements. Along the way she said she had been up since 4am on that day and had been working on call for the last 7 days straight. She did doze off along the way but when she woke up, she said that at least tomorrow she had off. Its meeting someone like that helps me keep things in perspective and reflect on my blessings.
Education Never Stops
The last lesson I want to talk about in this series is that we never reach a point where we know all about a subject. Especially when it comes to Scripture, there will always be a new discovery, language nuance, theory, or other thing that makes a text new and fresh for the reader. Although I am done with this particular degree, I have a back catalogue of books I have purchased which I now have time to read and learn more about the subject that are interesting to me.
I am thankful for my education and my ability to use that new information to hopefully encourage and uplift you in our worship services. I thank God He has given me the opportunity to do this for a living, and to help others connect with Him through the Gospel.