Quarter Complete

One semester is officially in the books. The past two weeks (three if you count the crazy week of Thanksgiving) were a blur. There's one thing that I did a lot of that I hadn't done in quite some time: pull all-nighters while feeling the intense pressure to perform. It's seriously one of the depressing things when the sun is rising, your roommates are waking up to go to work, and you're in the same position as you were when the sun was setting and your roommates were going to sleep. It's even more depressing when this repeats more than once in a week.

But it's done now. I turned in my last paper today at 5:45pm. And I get to taste freedom for the first time in three weeks. No more locking myself in my room or in the dungeons in a library reading about Kim Jong-Il, nuclear deterrence, desperation theory, national identity concept in international relations; about Seoul Olympics, tourist industry, mega-event strategy for development; about aggregate demand curve, inflation rates, monetary and fiscal policy; about human rights, North Korean Human Rights Act, refugee status. Don't get me wrong. I learned a lot. I appreciate it. But I'm done with it...at least for now. I think it's time that I give my brain a rest. My body has taken a beating these past two weeks. I think I've developed acid-reflux disease or heartburn or something for having stayed up so many nights and eating anything and everything into the wee hours of the morning (or sometimes not eating at all). I've had minor facial breakouts that I hadn't experienced since like junior high school. And my room looks as if a tornado hit. So I'm ready to move on and enjoy the next several weeks of pure freedom and enjoyment.

But through it all, God is continuing to teach me more of His ways. All the sermons I've listened to has really touched me in fresh ways (even Pastor Bruce's out at Remnant West during the Thanksgiving weekend). This has surely been a time of renewal and refreshment for my soul, and I intend to enjoy it and soak it in as much as I can. I know that there will be stretches in my walk where I will struggle. But I believe, right now, I am learning to be content in how God is working in my life and without fear about where God will take me in the future. I need to learn to live for the moment (although still praying about the future) because God has lessons in the present for the future.

It's been a learning semester (academically, personally, spiritually). It's been a trying semester. But all in all, it has been a blessed semester, of which I have no one else but God to thank.