Lesson Learned

Yesterday was the first day of the new semester so I thought I'd take a look back and Fall and recap some of the lessons learned along the way:

1. After three years I'm definitely a changed person. Honestly, my first few years in seminary I loved throwing that around when I met people. I loved the attention I got and sometimes felt it made me a better Christian just by saying it. However, now that I'm in the middle of my third year, I realize that seminary and a life of faith can be mutually exclusive. I'm finally shedding some of my pride and understanding the priviledge of being  a seminarian, especially at my current school. I am humbled by my classmates and their extensive knowledge of the Bible, their ability to speak eloquently in front of the room and their true hearts for Christ. It's my prayer I can become a person who is worthy of being in seminary because right now I falling flat. Seriously.

2. I'm a lazy student: I get by, I do well, but I'm short changing myself. When I was working, there just weren't the hours in the day to get everything done, so I cut myself some slack. Now it's just pure laziness. I have big plans to change that going forward.

3. You just have to do the work: I let exegesis freak me out for years. Now that I've finally done it, it's certainly not one of my favorite things to do, but it's not all bad either. I'm actually happy that there's so much emphasis placed on the process and I more aware of the weight of my words when I'm using scripture. Without the proper understanding of the passage, it's context and and clear interpretation I could do more damage than good.

4. I need help: Without the assistance of some of my classmates I would not make it through, and I do my best to return the favor whenever I can. I touched on this in previous posts and I feel stronger about this now more than ever.

5. I don't know my plan: And I'm so happy with that. I'm a seminarian. I own a catering business. These two things do not seem to go together, and I get questions about that almost daily. I don't have the answers and for the first time in a long time, I'm not looking for answer. I'm content living into each day as it is. It's such a lovely way to live right now.