Sept 23

This week I learned a couple of things...

1.  I am capable of doing grad school.  

My brain isn't as fast as it was when I was 20, but it also has a far greater capacity of empathy and understanding.  It has taken me much longer to do the work I'm assigned than I anticipated, but I am becoming aware that I am probably doing more than I need to be successful, and I'm also completely okay with that.  

2.  I like being busy.

Yes, I miss lazy days of nothing-ing by the pool, but that never fed my soul.  I am not busy with busyness.   I like that my days are filled with life choices that I said, "yes" to.   That's the kind of busy that feeds my soul.  I've known this about myself for some time, but I have never been so busy with so many intentional yeses, and I could not be happier.

3.  Choosing the right time to say no to my work makes all the difference.

The first few weeks of the grad school/being a teacher combo I spent ever minute with myself in a chair studying or my face in the front of a classroom teaching.  I did nothing else.  I came home and worked.  I went to work and worked.  I worked on weekends.  But, this week, I set all the work aside.  I had people over a couple of times this week.  I let myself listen and laugh.  I made ridiculous videos about imported chocolate bars. I took the girls to get their nails done.  I played "Let It Go" in a piano quartet. I had time for none of this, but the Lord made it clear to me that the people I needed to be in relationship with this week needed to be loved more than I needed to work.  I truly believe He gave me more progress in my working minutes because I gave them away to other people.  And, ultimately, He knew that I needed those relationships as much as anyone I loved on did.

To intentionally choosing life choices,

L